Waylon Jennings bio

Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15 1937 - February 13 2002) was a respected and influential American country music singer. Jennings was born in Littlefield, Texas. He taught himself to play guitar at age eight, and formed his first band two years later. He worked as a DJ throughout his teen years, dropping out of high school to pursue a career in music. During his time working as a DJ, he met and befriended Buddy Holly. When he was 21, Jennings was tapped by Holly to play bass in Holly's new band on a tour through the Midwest in early 1959. Holly also hired guitarist Tommy Allsup and drummer Carl "Goose" Bunch for the "Winter Dance Party" tour. On the night of February 3 1959, the airplane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson (aka The Big Bopper) crashed outside Mason City, Iowa, killing all passengers. Jennings had given his seat to Richardson, who had the flu and desperately needed rest. In his 1996 autobiography, Jennings admitted for the first time that in the years afterward, he felt severe guilt and responsibility for the crash. After Jennings gave up his seat, Holly had jokingly told him"I hope your ole bus freezes up!" Jennings replied, with equal jocularity: "I hope your damn plane crashes!"; these words would haunt him for years.

Source: Wikipedia