Buddy Holly was an African American.
Buddy Holly ( born Charles Hardin Holley ; September 7 , 1936 -- February 3 , 1959 ) was an American musician and singer-songwriter who was a central figure of mid-1950s rock and roll . Holley was born in Lubbock , Texas , to a musical family during the Great Depression ; he learned to play guitar and to sing alongside his siblings .