Question: Who is Buddy's widow, and is she still alive?

Answer: Buddy Holly's widow, Maria Elena Holly, is still alive and well. Born Maria Elena Santiago in San Juan, Puerto Rico, she was no stranger to tragedy at the time of Buddy's death; her parents died when she was a young girl. While working as a receptionist for a New York music publisher, she met the young Buddy, whose star was just beginning to rise.


After speaking to her rather traditional aunt, Buddy was allowed to court her, and they were married within two weeks. She was pregnant with the couple's only child when the crash happened; she miscarried not long after. Nevertheless, she managed to move on, eventually remarrying. She is now a grandmother who is active in promoting Buddy's legacy.

Buddy Holly's widow has often taken a heavy hand in that legacy, in ways that have seemed controversial to some: she owns the rights to Holly's name, image, and other "intellectual properties," and protects them fiercely. When Peggy Sue Gerron, girlfriend of Crickets drummer Jerry Allison whose name Buddy used for his signature song "Peggy Sue," wrote a memoir about her friendship with the singer, Maria Elena threatened a lawsuit and claimed she was never a friend. Even Buddy's hometown of Lubbock, TX has met with resistance when trying to name things after their favorite son; his widow has been adamant about restricting what she sees as exploitation, and has gone so far as to successfully rewrite Texas law in order to retain control.