Sonny Curtis, Member of Buddy Holly’s Crickets &

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Sonny Curtis, who played with and wrote songs for Buddy Holly as a member of the Crickets, then wrote songs as varied as “I Fought the Law” (recorded by the Bobby Fuller Four, the Clash and others) and “Love Is All Around” (the Mary Tyler Moore Show theme), died Sept. 19, 2025. His death was reported on the Buddy Holly Facebook page. No cause or place of death was cited. Curtis was 88.

Curtis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, alongside fellow Crickets alumni Jerry Allison, Joe B. Mauldin and Niki Sullivan.

Born May 9, 1937, in Meadow, Tex., Curtis played guitar on some of Holly’s early recordings for Decca Records, including “Blue Days, Black Nights,” which Curtis wrote. Curtis did not join the Crickets until late 1958, but continued with the group as its frontman after the demise of Holly in a plane crash in early 1959. Curtis was drafted that year, and upon his discharge, he continued to write songs that were recorded by other artists, including (in 1961) the Everly Brothers (“Walk Right Back”).

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