Jerry Allison, drummer for Buddy Holly and the Crickets, dies at 82

Jerry Allison, who played and co-wrote songs with rock pioneer and childhood friend Buddy Holly, and whose future wife inspired the classic “Peggy Sue,” has died. (AP)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jerry Allison, an architect of rock drumming who played and co-wrote songs with childhood friend Buddy Holly and whose future wife inspired the classic “Peggy Sue,” has died. He was 82.

His death was confirmed Wednesday by a spokesperson for Gold Mountain Entertainment, which manages Holly’s one-time backing band The Crickets, of which Allison was the last surviving original member. Further details of his death were not immediately available.