Jerry Allison’s death: The crickets drummer dies at the age of 82

Jerry Allison, who played alongside Buddy Holly in American rock band The Crickets, has died at the age of 82.

The drummer, who is credited with hits like “That’ll Be the Day” and “Peggy Sue,” died on Monday, August 22.

His death was announced on Buddy Holly’s official Facebook page with a statement recognizing Allison as a “musician ahead of his time.”

“Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends of Cricket drummer Jerry ‘JI’ Allison, one of Buddy’s closest friends and inspiration to drummer for decades, who passed away today at the age of 82,” the statement said read.

“JI was a musician way ahead of his time and there is no doubt that his energy, ideas and exceptional skill helped make both The Crickets and rock ‘n’ roll itself so successful. Buddy is often credited as the original singer-songwriter, but JI also wrote and inspired so many of the songs that would become all-time classics.”

The Crickets were formed in January 1957 by singer-songwriter Holly.

Her first hit “That’ll Be the Day” was released in May 1957 and reached number three on the Billboard Top 100 chart in September of that year.

The cover of their first album, The “chirping” crickets, showed the band line-up at the time of Holly, Allison, Niki Sullivan and Joe B. Mauldin.

Of those four, Allison was the last living member after Sullivan and Mauldin died in 2004 and 2017 respectively.

Holly herself died in a plane crash in 1959, aged just 22.

The Crickets, which at one point included country musician Waylon Jennings, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 14, 2012.