Paul McCartney remains one of rock music’s greatest icons today. Throughout his time with The Beatles, and even long after, he made some of the best-selling music of all time and got to know plenty of other famous stars in the process. Musician Buddy Holly had a career that started several years before McCartney joined The Beatles, but Holly’s influence over McCartney was evident throughout McCartney’s career. In fact, he was a big part of McCartney’s desire to become a famous musician.
McCartney once revealed that if he could say anything to Holly today, he’d ask him one — well, maybe two — important questions.
Paul McCartney was influenced by Buddy Holly’s music
It’s no secret that McCartney is a big Buddy Holly fan, but it’s lesser known that Holly is a big reason why McCartney and John Lennon started The Beatles. Back in 1958, McCartney was just a teenager, and he and John Lennon attended one of Holly’s shows in the United Kingdom. By then, Holly had blown up, with hits like “That’ll Be The Day” and “Peggy Sue.” And upon seeing Holly live, Lennon and McCartney knew they wanted a music career like his.
Back in 1973, just a few years after The Beatles broke up and 15 years after Holly’s untimely death, McCartney and his then-wife, Linda Eastman, purchased the rights to Holly’s music catalog, which included all of his biggest hits. According to The Paul McCartney Project, McCartney opened up in a past interview about how Linda Eastman’s father helped him decide to purchase Holly’s music.
“[Lee Eastman] asked me what kind of music I liked and the first name I said was Buddy Holly,” McCartney said. “Lee got on to the man who owned Buddy Holly’s stuff and bought that for me because the Buddy Holly stuff was up for sale.”
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Paul McCartney revealed what he’d ask Buddy Holly if given the chance
Holly has always been one of the artists who inspired McCartney the most, and back in 2020, McCartney revealed the “one question” he’d ask Holly if ever given the chance.
“It would have been, “How do you do the riff from ‘That’ll Be The Day’?” McCartney said in an interview with British GQ.
“That’ll Be The Day” was one of Holly’s biggest hits and the song that put him on the map in both the United States and United Kingdom. McCartney added that The Beatles “worked that one out” and eventually figured out the riff. Interestingly, McCartney followed that question up with another idea: “I’d probably ask him why he took that plane flight,” he said.
Holly’s infamous death came far too soon. The musician had achieved world fame by the late-1950s, and while touring in the United States, he boarded a plane from Iowa that was headed to Minnesota for the band’s next show. However, just a few minutes after takeoff, the plane crashed, killing Holly, the pilot, and two people. Holly was at the height of his fame and was just 22 years old. It became one of the most infamous deaths in the music industry, with Don McLean labeling it “the day the music died.”
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