Holly spent his teenage years kicking around Texas playing straight country music -- until, at nineteen, he got a gig opening for Elvis Presley. With that, Holly later claimed, he became a rock & roller. For the next two years, he put his trademark vocal hiccup on springy rockabilly, orchestral ballads and Chuck Berry covers -- an eclecticism that had a huge impact on the future Beatles. "Rave On," "Peggy Sue" and "Not Fade Away" made Holly one of rock's first great singer-songwriters. He was also its first major casualty: dead at twenty-two, in a plane crash after a show in Iowa in 1959. He was just getting started.
Total album sales: 500,000
Peak chart position: 55