The guitarist who missed Buddy Holly’s last flight dies at 85

Buddy Holly’s guitarist Tommy Allsup has died.
The rockabilly pioneer, who also worked with Leon Russell, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and George Jones, was 85.
Allsup famously lost a coin toss and missed out on boarding the plane that crashed en route to Minnesota, claiming the lives of Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson, aka the Big Bopper, in 1959.
The guitarist once told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, “I got an additional 57 years and 11 months and used it for good.”
Allsup was known for his acts of kindness and generosity and went out of his way to keep his friend Buddy Holly’s legacy alive.