Maria Elena is a businesswoman from the United States who runs the Buddy-Holy Educational Foundation. She is best known as the wife and widow of rock star Buddy Holly. She remarried after her husband’s death and gave birth to three children. She still owns the rights to her husband’s image, trademark, name and any other intellectual property. She once sued Peggy Sue Gerron after her autobiography was published. She is known for her no-nonsense approach to defending her husband’s music, image and legacy from greedy promoters and record labels.
Contents
Fast facts
| Famous name: | Maria Elena Holly |
| Real name/Full name: | Maria Elena Santiago |
| Sex: | Woman |
| Age: | 89 years old |
| Date of birth: | December 20, 1932 |
| Birth place: | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Nationality: | Puerto Rican-American |
| Height: | 1.58 m |
| Weight: | 68 kg |
| Sexual orientation: | Straight |
| Marriage status: | Divorced |
| Husband/spouse (name): | Buddy Holly (b. 1958, died 1959) Joe Diaz (b. 1963, divorced) |
| Children/children (son and daughter): | That |
| Date/boyfriend (name): | ON |
| Is Maria Elena Holly a lesbian? | Not |
| Profession: | Businesswoman |
| Salary: | ON |
| Net worth in 2023: | 24 million dollars |
Maria Elena Holly Biography
Maria Elena Santiago was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on December 20, 1932. She later moved to New York and lived with her aunt Provi Garcia. Her mother died in 1935, and her father persuaded her to live with her aunt. She got her first job as a receptionist at the music publisher Peermusic. It was there in 1957 that she met Buddy Holly, who would later become her beloved husband.
Buddy and his group were on their way to Santiago’s boss, Murray Deutch. Buddy asked her out the day before recording the single Early In The Morning. This was her first date, and she had to get permission from her Aunt Garcia. Buddy proposed to her within five hours of their first date, so it was love at first sight for them.
Maria Elena Holly Age, height, weight
Maria Elena Holly was born on December 20, 1932, and is 89 years old as of 2023. She is 1.58 m tall and weighs 68 kg.
Maria Elena Holly
Career
After the death of her husband, Maria went underground for several years because she wanted to leave everything behind. After she married a second husband, he persuaded her to honor Buddy’s memory by telling her story and protecting her late husband’s name.
She devoted her time to defending her husband’s work from piracy and exploitative record companies. Her duties include negotiating licensing agreements with those who wish to use Buddy’s music or image. Many people have accused her of being greedy, but all she wants to do is get rich using Buddy’s name.
Maria Elena Holly Achievements and Awards
Maria is purely a business woman whose only purpose is to protect Buddy’s license and sign contracts with entities that want to use his image or music. Maria was not nominated for the award. She probably couldn’t be famous without her husband’s fame because she didn’t have a public name without Buddy’s name.
Maria Elena Holly Net Worth in 2023
Since Buddy’s death, she has been in charge of all rights to his image, music and other assets. Buddy’s name grew after his death, with many record labels wanting to produce many of his songs that he had yet to record. After winning the rights to everything Buddy owned, this became Maria’s work. As of August 2023, Maria Elena Holly’s net worth is around $24 million.
Maria did not attend his funeral after his wife died, and she had not visited his grave since his burial in 1959. She blamed herself and music for her husband’s death, and it took her years to listen to his music again. She claimed that was the only time she wasn’t with her husband and if she had been there, she could have stopped Buddy from getting on that plane.
Maria Elena Holly Husband, marriage
They married almost immediately after Buddy proposed because they tied the knot in Lubbock, Texas, Buddy’s hometown. They lived in Lubbock before moving to New York after Buddy and The Crickets, his band, broke up. The two worked together in Buddy’s music career, with Maria handling promotional duties before starting a record company. Maria’s first work as a producer was on the song Stay Close To Me.
Buddy and his two friends, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens, went on a music tour in early 1959, but they never returned and they all died in a plane crash on February 3, 1959. Maria found out about her husband’s death from the television news. She miscarried as a result of the shock of the news, although no one has ever confirmed that she was pregnant at the time. The authorities later passed a law requiring that the names of the victims be revealed only after their families have been notified.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn