"Buddy Holly" | ||||
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Single by Weezer | ||||
from the album Weezer (The Blue Album) | ||||
B-side | "Jamie" | |||
Released | September 7, 1994 | |||
Studio | Electric Lady (New York City) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:39 | |||
Label | DGC | |||
Songwriter(s) | Rivers Cuomo | |||
Producer(s) | Ric Ocasek | |||
Weezer singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Buddy Holly" on YouTube | ||||
Audio sample | ||||
"Buddy Holly" is a song by the American rock band Weezer. The song was written by Rivers Cuomo and released by DGC as the second single from the band's debut album, Weezer (The Blue Album) (1994). The lyrics reference the song's namesake, 1950s rock-and-roll singer Buddy Holly, and actress Mary Tyler Moore. Released on September 7, 1994—which would have been Holly's 58th birthday—the song reached number two on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart. Outside the US, the song peaked at number six in Canada, number 12 in the United Kingdom, number 13 in Iceland, and number 14 in Sweden. The song's music video, directed by Spike Jonze, earned considerable exposure when it was included as a bonus media file in Microsoft's initial successful release of the operating system Windows 95.
Rolling Stone ranked "Buddy Holly" number 484 in its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" (2021), raising it 15 spots from number 499 (2010), and raised from around 19 years prior, being ranked number 497 (2004).[5][6] The digital version of the single for "Buddy Holly" was certified gold by the RIAA in 2006.[7] VH1 ranked it as one of the "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s" at number 59 in December 2007.[8]