The Beatles were influenced by American singers including Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Little Richard.

VOA: special.2010.07.30

Ms. SAMANTHA HOLLY(ph) (American University Student): ...and put them all over my mom's vanity mirror.

NPR: Are You My Mother?

The first featured a pilgrimage to the resting place of Buddy Holly whose untimely death was later declared in American Pie as the day the music died.

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Warm and intimate, his largely acoustic and usually spare arrangements are a tribute to what Ward sees as the greatest era for American music: the 1950s and early '60s, when singers like Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison infused country-rooted pop with honesty and romance.

NPR: Exclusive First Listen: M. Ward's 'Hold Time'