Buddy Holly versus Elvis

• rydawg5

  1. Who's more the more talented singer?
  
  2. Who was more musically gifted (all around)?
  
  3. Would Buddy have been as big as Elvis if he hadn't died at 22?
• charliehustle14

  Both were great. I don't know if Buddy Holly would have been as great as Elvis if he hadn't died so early because Elvis had the sex appeal thing going for him which made him even more popular.
  
  And you can make the argument that Elvis influenced Holly when Holly showed up to one of his shows and came away with some great ideas and a different sound.
  
  I'd still take Chuck Berry over both, however.
• Mulva

  

  Elvis is the most overrated musician of all time.
  
  Buddy Holly easily takes this one.
• O-Trap

  

  Buddy Holly was more talented, musically.
  
  However, Elvis was far more revolutionary, which means that the answer to #3 is no.
• Curly J

  

  I've always been a fan of Buddy Holly and love is music. Elvis not so much. I just got tired of his popularity.
  
  I have to agree with the Master of Interwebz Espionage
• skank

  

  Elvis. Hands down.
• Apple

  

  I think they would've started their own band and given the Beach Boys and the Beatles a run for their money.
• Trueblue23

  

  Celebrity Deathmatch!
• enigmaax

  Well, who did Weezer have a song about? There's your answer.
• Swamp Fox

  Two entirely different performers. I liked them both very much. I thought Elvis was quite a bit more versatile, singing romantic ballads, rock and roll stuff and spirituals, whereas Buddy Holly was more of an old time rocker with things like Peggy Sue, That'll Be The Day, Oh Boy, and others. I think Elvis would have still been the King but Buddy Holly would have left a much greater footprint on the annals of modern music. Of course, there was another great singer who died way before her time, but is considered by many to be one of the greatest Country Western performers of all time, so perhaps the length of a person's life isn't always the measuring stick for fame and remembrance. I'm of course thinking about the late, great, Patsy Cline.
• End of Line

  

  When I hear Buddy Holly, I think of this.
  
  
• Upper90

  For me, there's no short answer, so I'll spare you a lengthy analysis.
  
  However, I will say that Jerry Lee Lewis had a chance to be bigger than both, if he just had a little self control.
• dtdtim

  Upper90 wrote: However, I will say that Jerry Lee Lewis had a chance to be bigger than both, if he just had a little self control.

  I don't think he would have been able to be bigger than The King. I do think his musical footprint could have been much bigger, though, if he were just a smidgen smarter.
  
  Buddy Holly is awesome and you have to be special if you have a song written about your death date being the 'day music died'.
  
  But Elvis was a revolution. A Movement. He was (and still is) the icon of the 1950s American Teenager. There are perhaps 2 acts in history bigger than Elvis: Michael Jackson & The Beatles. Rock and Roll would not have had the history it does without either Buddy Holly or Elvis Presley. But, without Elvis, Rock and Roll may never have become as popular to begin with. Elvis changed American music forever. Long live the King!
  
  So, your answers:
  1. Elvis
  2. Buddy Holly was a far more talented songwriter. I do not think that qualifies him as more musically gifted, however. But he was a better songwriter.
  3. No
• noreply66

  Mr P. was tops with most people but in some cases people liked Buddies music more than Elvis'
  
  If not for the early death Buddy would have stay around the top but not like Elvis.