Buddy Holly widow threatens lawsuit against Peggy Sue
The widow of singer Buddy Holly has threatened to sue a woman, whose name was made famous by Holly’s hit song Peggy Sue, who is planning to release a book about her friendship with Holly.
Peggy Sue Gerron, who married Holly’s drummer Jerry Allison back in 1958, wrote a 283-page book ó Whatever Happened to Peggy Sue? ó to mark the 50th anniversary of the song’s release.
Gerron says the book, to be released at the end of January, comes from 150 diary entries she wrote during the time she knew the singer.
“I wanted to give him his voice. It’s my book, my memoirs,” says Gerron. “We were very, very good friends.”
The book has angered Maria Elena Holly, who married the rocker just months before he died Feb. 3, 1959 in a plane crash that also killed singers Ritchie Valens and J.P. (The Big Bopper) Richardson.
“He never, never considered Peggy Sue a friend,” says Holly, who owns the rights to her husband’s name, image, trademarks and other intellectual properties.
As a result, Holly has sent a cease-and-desist letter to TogiEntertainment, the book’s Oklahoma City publisher, demanding it stop promoting the book. The letter also asks the publisher to cancel all book orders and to refund any deposits paid on the book.
According to Holly’s widow, the book will harm her husband’s name, her own reputation and that of her company, Holly Properties.
TogiEntertainment says it will not give in to the letter’s demands.
“My feeling is that Maria Elena fears the truth will come out about Buddy Holly,” said Mark Faulk, CEO of TogiEntertainment.
The song’s original title was actually Cindy Lou, named after Buddy Holly’s niece, but his drummer, Jerry Allison of the Crickets, requested that Holly change it because Allison was trying to woo Gerron at the time.
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