Bill Griggs (1941-2011) was a music historian born in Hartford, Connecticut, who eventually settled in Lubbock.
In 1958, after attending one of “Moondog” Alan Freed’s DJ “Big Beat” shows and seeing Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Griggs quickly became infatuated with the West Texas icon. When Buddy Holly’s plane tragically crashed the next year, Griggs immediately began collecting everything he could find. In 1975, he launched the Buddy Holly Memorial Society (BHMS) and its quarterly journal, Reminiscing. Two years later, the BHMS hosted its first convention with a Crickets reunion concert. In 1981, Griggs and the BHMS relocated to Lubbock, where he began producing music events in Lubbock and Clovis. For two years, he ran a rock revival music show on KDAV-AM radio. The BHMS, licensed by the Holly estate, has gone on to enroll over 5,500 members from all 50 states and 34 nations. Griggs published for 30 years and produced 11 consecutive BHMS conventions, as well as serving as master of ceremonies for countless reunions at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, the site of the final concert before “the music died.”
Bill Griggs was inducted into the West Texas Walk of Fame in 2010.
