As reported by Wide Open Country, Maria Elena Holly (then Maria Elena Santiago) met Buddy Holly at a New York music publishing company where she worked. By 1958, the couple were married and had high hopes for the future. Holly’s career had taken off, and it’s known that Maria Elena often joined Holly on the road, posing as his secretary. The marriage was kept secret so as not to upset Holly’s female fans, according to “Icons of Rock: An Encyclopedia of the Legends Who Changed Music Forever, Volume 1,” by Scott Schinder and Andy Schwartz. Buddy Holly even wanted Maria Elena with him on the fateful tour, but she declined — she was pregnant.
The sudden death of Buddy Holly was such a shock for his wife, she tragically miscarried. Maria Elena Holly had two children with her second husband, and to this day, she lives in Dallas, Texas, managing Buddy Holly’s legacy. In 2010, she also co-founded The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation (per Wide Open Country). Published in 2007, “Whatever Happened to Peggy Sue? A Memoir by Buddy Holly’s Peggy Sue, Peggy Sue Gerron (who died in 2018, via Rolling Stone) alleged the early rock classic, “Peggy Sue Got Married” was not about Gerron’s relationship with the Cricket’s drummer but instead, about a love triangle between Gerron, Maria Elena, and Holly himself, as the Daily Mail reports. Maria Elena brought an unsuccessful lawsuit against Gerron to stop the publication of the book, via the Guardian.
