Wednesday, October 18, 2000:

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From Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, February 25, 1997

Holly to be honored at 1997 Grammys

By WILLIAM KERNS
A-J Entertainment Editor

Lubbock-born singer-songwriter, rock 'n' roll recording artist and innovative producer Buddy Holly will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1997 Grammy Awards.

The Grammys will be celebrated with a televised ceremony from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday on CBS (Channel 13, Cox Cable Channel 7). The awards ceremony will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Holly's widow, Maria Elena Holly, will accept the award Wednesday in her late husband's absence.

Holly was born in Lubbock on Sept. 7, 1936, and died in the crash of a private plane near Clear Lake, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 1959.

Lubbock Mayor Windy Sitton and Nancy Gray, executive director of the Lubbock Convention and Tourism Bureau, will accompany Holly to the Lifetime & Trustee Achievement Awards portion of the Grammy Awards tonight.s Tonight's event, which includes a video about the life of Buddy Holly, will not be televised.

Sitton will return to Lubbock on Wednesday. Gray will remain in New York and attend the televised awards ceremony Wednesday night.

Holly will be interviewed on Thursday by Dick Bartley, of the syndicated radio program Solid Gold. A tape of that interview will be aired during Bartley's program on Saturday, which airs from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on KKCL (98.1 FM) in Lubbock.

Sitton said, ''I am pleased beyond words to be a part of this celebration. Lubbock is very proud of Buddy's musical heritage and we are excited that a national group as prestigious as the Grammy Awards is paying tribute to his music.''