María Elena Holly

Early years

Santiago-Holly (birth name: María Elena Santiago) was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her mother died when María Elena was 12. In 1953, her father sent her to live with her aunt (Provi Garcia) in New York City. Santiago worked as a receptionist for music publisher Peermusic. In early 1958, she met Buddy Holly, who asked her out. Santiago had never been out on a date and told Holly he would have to ask her aunt for permission. Holly promptly got her aunt's permission. Five hours into their first date, Buddy handed a rose to Maria and asked her to marry him.

Married life

On August 15, 1958, less than two months later, they were married in Buddy's hometown of Lubbock, Texas. They settled down in Lubbock until Buddy broke up with his band, The Crickets, and they moved to New York. Santiago-Holly went on one tour (October 1958) with her husband and took on promotional duties. Buddy Holly also formed the Maria Music publishing company with which "Stay Close To Me" was filed. Holly produced Lou Giordano's version of the song which was issued on Brunswick 55115 on January 27, 1959.

In the early morning hours of February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly was on tour when he, together with Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, died in an airplane crash. Holly and Santiago had been married for only six months at the time of his death. Maria was a month and a half pregnant with their child, and miscarried shortly after the crash. Buddy was interred in Lubbock.

Santiago-Holly did not attend the funeral and has never visited the grave site. She told the Avalanche-Journal: "In a way, I blame myself. I was not feeling well when he left. I was two weeks pregnant, and I wanted Buddy to stay with me, but he had scheduled that tour. It was the only time I wasn't with him. And I blame myself because I know that, if only I had gone along, Buddy never would have gotten into that airplane."

Later years

Santiago-Holly eventually remarried and had three children. Now divorced, she is a grandmother living in Dallas, Texas, and promotes her first husband's legacy. In 1989, The Smithereens paid honor to her with the song "Maria Elena" on their album 11. Actress Maria Richwine played Santiago-Holly's role in the 1978 movie The Buddy Holly Story. Jill Hennessy portrayed her in the Broadway production of Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story.

Santiago-Holly has spent most of her life protecting Buddy Holly's legacy. She controversially wanted to charge the city of Lubbock to use Buddy's name in various ways, including in relation to a music festival, a street named the "Buddy Holly Walk of Fame", and a terrace named "Buddy Holly Terrace."

In 2008, Santiago-Holly threatened legal action against Peggy Sue Gerron, the subject of the song "Peggy Sue", after the publication of Gerron's autobiography Whatever Happened to Peggy Sue?.

While visiting New York City in May 2008, Santiago-Holly visited Washington Square Park, where Holly often played his guitar. She observed musicians singing there are later told the Avalanche-Journal:

"I gave one musician $9 because 9 was Buddy's favorite number"

She also visited the apartment building where she and Holly had lived. Santiago-Holly remarked it was the first time she had been back to the building since Holly's death.

The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation

In 2010, Santiago-Holly co-founded, with Peter Bradley, the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation. The foundation is a charitable corporation whose mission is to keep Buddy Holly’s legacy alive by providing musical education to new generations regardless of income, ethnicity or educational limitations. Among the areas in the musical education provided are songwriting, production, arranging, orchestration, and performance education. The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation co-hosts worldwide songwriting retreats with Chris Difford. They are organised by Peter Bradley Jnr, board Director of the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation.