The Two Questions Paul McCartney Would Have Asked Buddy Holly if He Had the Chance

Before Paul McCartney and The Beatles became one of the biggest musical influences of all time, they were influenced by the work of Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Buddy Holly. When it comes to bands and musicians from The Beatles generation, it’s nearly impossible to find somebody who didn’t find inspiration from at least one of these individuals.

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Concerning McCartney’s affinity for Buddy Holly and his work, he once stated, “The other reason [John and I] love Buddy was that he wrote his stuff. Elvis didn’t write his stuff. Loved Elvis, but he didn’t write his stuff. So Buddy wrote and played, and played the solos. So he was a self-contained guy, which is what we were trying to emulate,” via The Ronnie Wood Show.

Needless to say, Holly was a massive guiding light for McCartney, The Beatles, and pretty much any youngster in the 1950s who had dreamed of becoming a musician. The Beatles picked up where Buddy Holly and a few others left off; hence, McCartney voiced a couple of hypothetical questions to the deceased rock ‘n’ roller.

Paul McCartney’s Unexpected Questions

In an interview with GQ, one of these questions posed was, “If you had the opportunity to ask Buddy Holly one question, what would it be?” “It would have been, ‘How do you do the riff from ‘That’ll Be The Day’,” McCartney initially replied. “But we [The Beatles] worked that one out.”

Given that he and The Beatles, specifically George Harrison, figured that one out, McCartney proposed another question. That question: “I’d probably ask him why he took that plane flight.” Most of you are probably well aware of the significance of that question, but if you aren’t, McCartney is referring to the 1959 plane crash that took Buddy Holly’s life, as well as the lives of Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson. That day, that plane crash, is often referred to as “The Day The Music Died”, due to the Don McLean song.

Why do you think McCartney would have asked Holly this question? Would it be because the pilot was reportedly inexperienced and they were flying in a snowstorm? Or would it be because he was, in a way, lamenting the decision that led to Holly’s death? Who knows, and it is not our place to assume, but quite the question to ask one of your heroes, don’t you think?

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