Sonny Curtis, the legendary guitarist and songwriter who fronted Buddy Holly’s band The Crickets and penned timeless hits like the theme song for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” has passed away. He was 88 years old.
Curtis died on Friday after a sudden illness, his daughter Sarah shared in a heartfelt Facebook post. “I’m heartbroken to tell you that my dad Sonny passed away yesterday,” she wrote. “I’m so grateful that I was with him at the end, along with my mom. It was peaceful and he didn’t suffer.” Sarah remembered her father as someone who lived an extraordinary life, touching hearts everywhere. “He was 88 and he lived a more exceptional life than anyone I’d ever met,” she added. “It’s a sad day, but what a life. May we look at his life with joy rather than sadness. He would have wanted that.”
He leaves behind his wife of more than 50 years, Louise, and their daughter Sarah.
Born on May 9, 1937, in Meadow, Texas, Curtis picked up the guitar early on, inspired by his uncles in the Mayfield Brothers band. At just 15, he crossed paths with Buddy Holly, and the two formed a band that opened for rock pioneers like Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and Carl Perkins. Curtis even played guitar on Holly’s early tracks, including “Blue Days Black Nights,” and he wrote “Rock Around With Ollie Vee.”
In 1958, Curtis officially joined The Crickets right before tragedy struck—Holly died in a plane crash in February 1959 at age 22. Stepping up as frontman, Curtis led the band forward. Their first album without Holly, “In Style With the Crickets,” featured his song “I Fought the Law,” which exploded in popularity when The Bobby Fuller Four covered it in 1966. That track became one of Curtis’s biggest successes, with covers by artists like Hank Williams Jr., The Clash, Roy Orbison, Kris Kristofferson, and more. “Of course ‘I Fought the Law’ has turned out to be my most lucrative copyright to date,” Curtis once said in an interview.
Curtis kept the hits coming with songs like “Walk Right Back,” a smash for The Everly Brothers, and “More Than I Can Say,” which Bobby Vee and Leo Sayer later turned into chart-toppers.
In 1970, he created magic for TV fans by writing and singing “Love Is All Around” for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” The catchy tune captured the spirit of Mary Richards, a single woman from the Midwest starting fresh in Minneapolis as a newsroom worker. The sitcom ran for seven seasons on CBS, and the theme became an instant classic.
Even later in life, Curtis stayed active, writing for stars like Glen Campbell (“The Straight Life”), Andy Williams (“A Fool Never Learns”), and Keith Whitley (“I’m No Stranger to the Rain”). He performed solo and with The Crickets, keeping rock ‘n’ roll alive.
His incredible career earned him spots in several halls of fame. In 1991, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame welcomed him. He joined the Nashville Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007. And in 2012, Curtis entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of The Crickets, alongside drummer Jerry Allison, bassist Joe B. Mauldin, and guitarist Niki Sullivan.
Fans of Buddy Holly, The Crickets, and classic rock songwriting will remember Sonny Curtis as a true pioneer who shaped American music for generations.
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