María Elena Holly

María Elena Holly (née Santiago; born December 20, 1932) is the widow of American rock and roll pioneer Buddy Holly. As a receptionist at Peermusic, she met with Holly and his band the Crickets on June 19, 1958, and Holly proposed to her after five hours on their first date. Less than two months later, the couple married on August 15, 1958, in Lubbock, Texas. On February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly died in a plane crash along with fellow musicians Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper outside Clear Lake, Iowa. After learning of her husband's death from the television news, she suffered a miscarriage the following day and could not attend Holly's funeral in Lubbock.

In the following years, María Elena Holly married Puerto Rican government official Joe Diaz, with whom she had three children. In the 1978 film The Buddy Holly Story, she is portrayed by actress Maria Richwine. As Buddy Holly's widow, she owns the rights to his name, image, trademarks, and other intellectual property. In 2010, Santiago-Holly co-founded The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation with Peter Bradley.