The Peculiar Truth about the Spanish Yoko Ono

• In a magazine interview, she stated that people referred to her as “the Spanish Yoko Ono.” She supposedly got that derisive nickname because of the way she vigorously protected her late husband’s image and likeness.

• Her name is Maria Elena Holly, and she is the widow of rock and roll pioneer Buddy Holly.

• February 2, 1959: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Richardson aka The Big Bopper all died in a plane crash. That tragic event became known as “the day the music died.”

• Maria was married to Buddy at the time of his death. She had been a receptionist at a NYC record company. He popped the question after their first date, and their wedding ceremony took place in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas in August 1958.

• After less than six months of tempestuous marriage, the couple considered divorcing. Maria told him she was pregnant with their first child. Buddy then went out on tour.

• On the morning after the fatal Iowa plane crash, news of Buddy’s tragic death was reported all across the nation. His mother learned not from the authorities but from a radio news bulletin, and she went into hysterics.

• Maria learned of her husband’s death via television. No state troopers or other government figures came to her house to bring her the information.

• The US federal government has no legal obligation to inform a family in the event of someone’s passing, except for a military death and if a US citizen dies while overseas. Usually, the duty of contacting the next of kin is left up to local law enforcement officers.

• In shock from the televised news of Buddy’s death, Maria went into an immediate miscarriage. Her baby was lost.

• That caused public outrage, so media organizations collectively agreed that the next of kin needed to be fully informed of someone’s death before any news outlet could release the information. Journalistic ethics seem to have been the only compulsion to obey it. Or not.

• For many years after his death, Buddy’s likeness was used without consent, even though Maria had been diligent about protecting his image. She hoped for legislation to stop that.

• 1977: The US Supreme Court heard a rights of publicity case — Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting. Zacchini promoted himself as a human cannonball. One of his stunts aired on local news without his permission. He sued saying that his image was used for the TV station’s profit but not his. The justices sided with the human cannonball.

• After that the estate of the late Bela Lugosi sued to prevent his image being exploited by Universal Pictures. That suit failed, but California then passed legislation to stop the unauthorized usage of a celebrity’s name, image, and likeness (which became known by the acronym NIL).

• After the California law was enacted, Maria Holly lobbied the Texas legislature to pass a similar law.

• Texas passed its own right of publicity statute in 1987 preventing unauthorized use of a dead celebrity’s likeness. It became known as the Buddy Holly Law.

• Today, nearly half of the fifty states have NIL statutes on their books, some of which now benefit student athletes.

• Over the years, Maria has helped others become aware of their rights, including the estate of the late singer Selena. She also supposedly offered aid to Yoko Ono in administering John Lennon’s estate.

• In 2016, Maria sold the estate’s intellectual property to BMG Music Publishing. They now hold full rights to Buddy Holly’s name, image, and likeness.

• As of this writing, Maria Holly is still alive and living in Texas at age 92.