Rave on with Buddy Holly and The Cricketers at tribute show on 65th anniversary of star's concert in Sheffield

Buddy and The Crickets played at Sheffield City Hall on March 4 1958, headlining a variety bill compered by Des O’Connor. On a 25 back-to-back date tour, they performed two, and sometimes three, shows a night in venues all across the country.

Fast forward 65 years and a show celebrating Buddy’s only tour to the UK will visit the City Hall on March 4, 2023. The UK’s best-loved tribute act, Buddy Holly and The Cricketers will be backed by The English Rock and Roll Orchestra.

Buddy Holly and The Cricketers has delighted audiences across the globe from Cardiff to California, Barking to Bangkok and Swindon to Sweden for the past 30 years. The show stars some of the finest actor-musicians in the UK and was endorsed as Britain’s most popular Buddy Holly act when the boys guested on BBC One's Saturday night live programme, The One and Only, hosted by Graham Norton.

The English Rock and Roll Orchestra has assembled some of the finest classical musicians in the country, many of whom are multi-instrumentalists. They relish the opportunity to depart from their usual repertoire, let their hair down and indulge in their love of rock ‘n’ roll.

Buddy Holly and The Cricketers has always presented Buddy in the style of show that they feel he would perform today. Authentic arrangements, driving rhythms, energetic performances and wonderful musicianship, all delivered with charm and humour.

This truly remarkable evening of classic rock ’n’ roll will have you dancing in the aisles and shouting for more.

Make your Heartbeat a little faster with the show that has thousands of fans the world over saying: “I can’t believe it’s not Buddy!” The concert starts at 7.30pm. Tickets, priced from £16.80, are now on sale at www.sheffieldtheatres.co.ukBuddy Holly was just 22 when he died in a plane crash in Iowa during his Winter Dance Party tour, an accident which also claimed the lives of musicians Ritchie Valens and ‘The Big Bopper’ J.T. Richardson plus the pilot Roger Peterson. Buddy’s wife saw the reports of his death on television and had a miscarriage the following day; she did not attend his funeral and never visited his grave.

Bespectacled singer Buddy, whose distinctive vocal style incorporated falsetto and hiccups, left behind a legacy of great songs. In England, he topped the charts with It Doesn’t Matter Anymore which held onto the number one spot for three weeks in 1959. His top ten hits included Rave On, Brown-Eyed Handsome Man, Peggy Sue, Bo Diddley and Wishing.The Buddy Holly Story album, which was released in 1959, peaked at number two in the British charts. In 1978, the album 20 Golden Greats – Buddy Holly And The Crickets held the number one spot in the charts for three weeks.

*Jukebox musical Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story will be performed live on stage at Chesterfield’s Winding Wheel Theatre from March 7 to 11, 2023. For tickets, go to www.chesterfieldtheatres.co.uk or call 01246 345222.