Buddy Holly and Maria Elena Santiago - Dating, Gossip, News, Photos list. Help us build our profile of Buddy Holly and Maria Elena Santiago!
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(15 August 1958 - 3 February 1959) (his death)
In 1958 her father sent her to live with her aunt (Martha Guadalupe Santiago) in New York City. Santiago worked as a receptionist for music publisher Peermusic. Two weeks later, 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, who was also her guardian, 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.
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 tours with her husband and took on managerial duties.
In February 1959, Buddy Holly was on tour when he, together with Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, died in an airplane crash. Santiago-Holly had been married for only six months and was pregnant with Buddy's child; she miscarried shortly afterwards. 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."