Claim: Buddy Holly is a guitarist.

The Crickets were an American rock and roll band from Lubbock , Texas , formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in the 1950s . Their first hit record , `` That 'll Be the Day '' , released in 1957 , was a number-one hit single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on September 23 . The sleeve of their first album , The `` Chirping '' Crickets , shows the band lineup at the time : Holly on lead vocals and lead guitar , Niki Sullivan on rhythm guitar , Jerry Allison on drums , and Joe Mauldin on bass . The Crickets helped set the template for subsequent rock bands , such as the Beatles , with their guitar-bass-drums lineup and the talent to write most of their own material . After Holly 's death in 1959 the band continued to tour and record with other band members into the 21st century .