A chronicle of the rise and brief career of rock 'n' roll star Buddy Holly, who aspires to play music the way he wants it to sound. Holly and his band, the Crickets, are first invited to record in Nashville, where they encounter creative differences with the producing staff. Later they play a major booking at the Apollo Theater, scheduled there under the mistaken assumption that they're a black band. Holly's career eventually goes solo -- until the tragic day the music dies.

Gary Busey
as Buddy Holly

Don Stroud
as Jesse Charles

Charles Martin Smith
as Ray Bob Simmons

Conrad Janis
as Ross Turner

William Jordan
as Riley

Maria Richwine
as Maria Elena Holly

Amy Johnston
as Cindy Lou

Dick O'Neill
as Sol Gittler

Fred Travalena
as Madman Mancuso

Neva Patterson
as Mrs. Holly
CinemaSerf
Aside from a passable resemblance to the man himself, Gary Busey also sounds a bit like Buddy Holly in this biopic of a man who blazed a trail through the American music industry. Despite the popularity of his toe-tapping "Peggy Sue" type numbers, he still faced quite an uphill battle to convince th...