- Email : enquiries@tbhef.org
Established in 2010 to promote Buddy Holly’s legendary music so that it continues to inspire future generations of fans and musicians and make the dreams and wishes of Buddy and Maria Elena Holly come true by promoting musical education for young people.
The mission of The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation is to honor Buddy’s legacy as well as to make Buddy and Maria Elena Holly’s dream of extending musical education, including songwriting, production, arranging, orchestration, and performance, to new generations regardless of income or ethnicity or learning levels. We will empower a new generation to follow in Buddy’s footsteps.
Buddy’s passion for songwriting lives on in TBHEF’s songwriting retreats, where young writers are grouped with established ones in a safe place where everyone is equal. Each retreat is unique and very rewarding for all who attend. I’m sure Buddy would be proud of how inspiring these weeks can be.
Our Ambassadors and Honored Friends of The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation span eight decades in entertainment, from iconic legends to new generations of artists and musicians, all with one common bond; a love and appreciation of the incomparable music legacy created by Buddy Holly and the Crickets.
Since 2018 we have been supporters of Teenage Cancer Trust and Teen Cancer America, working with our Ambassadors to raise money to improve quality of life and chances of survival for those affected by such terrible diseases. So far we have raised more than $3 million.
Buddy’s legacy lives on in the modern world.
I'm a huge Buddy Holly fan... that goes without saying. It's such a tragedy to music... that Buddy was lost. He's been such an influence on music. I keep thinking about what he would have been doing now.
It was an exciting yet spooky thing to be recording with someone who has been dead for 37 years, but I believe that we have helped to propel Buddy's music further into the future. It was an honor to be able to 'pay back' Buddy for the pleasure he has given to all of us.”
Designation
I was an impressionable 11 year old when Buddy Holly died. He was one of my earliest heroes.
The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation is a registered charity in the United States and the United Kingdom, with a mission to extend musical education to new generations regardless of income or ethnicity or learning levels.
© The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation 2025
Mark Knopfler