Peggy Sue, Inspiration for Buddy Holly Song, Dies at 78

LUBBOCK (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — The Texas woman who inspired the 1958 Buddy Holly song "Peggy Sue" has died at a Lubbock hospital.

Peggy Sue Gerron Rackham of Lubbock died Monday at University Medical Center. She was 78. UMC spokesman Eric Finley said Tuesday the family gave him permission to confirm the death, but asked that no additional information be released.

Peggy Sue Gerron in 2008 released her autobiography "Whatever Happened to Peggy Sue?: A Memoir by Buddy Holly's Peggy Sue" to mark the 50th anniversary of the song. Gerron at the time said she and Holly were good friends. She married a member of his band, The Crickets. The couple later divorced.

Holly died in a 1959 plane crash in Iowa that also killed Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.

Nine months before dying, Holly bought a a limited-edition 1958 Ariel Cyclone model Triumph motorcycle in Dallas. It's now on long-term loan at the museum that bears Holly's name in Lubbock.