Buddy Holly Invented Metal and Grunge: One Chord Changed Rock Forever.
You’ve heard Peggy Sue. And it changed songwriting forever.
Peggy Sue is Buddy Holly’s Stairway to Heaven — without a doubt, you’ve heard the song. As many times as you may have heard the tune, there’s something hidden that changed songwriting forever.
The Beatles were influenced by Holly more than any other songwriter of their generation. But, unknowingly, so were metal and grunge bands decades later.
Peggy Sue instantly makes us think of the pounding drum roll pattern and the Texas drawl of “I love yew.” It’s a simple song on the surface.
The verse uses only two chords, ‘A and D major’ with a quick E major thrown in during the “But I love you gal, I Love you, Peggy Sue.”
This was the era’s typical rock n roll chord progression — until Peggy Sue. He unshackled the songwriting chains for generations by throwing a chord out of left field into the pop charts.
