About the Song

“Not Fade Away” was first recorded by Buddy Holly and his band The Crickets in May 1957 at Norman Petty’s studio in Clovis, New Mexico. Released as the b-side to “Oh Boy!” in October 1957, the song later appeared on Holly’s debut album The “Chirping” Crickets. The track was produced by Petty, who controversially shares a writing credit with Holly under his full name, Charles Hardin.

The song’s distinctive syncopated five-beat rhythm, inspired by Bo Diddley’s pioneering use of the same rhythm, became one of the key elements of “Not Fade Away”. When Holly tragically died in a plane crash in February 1959, it seemed the song might fade into obscurity. However, its legacy was revived by The Rolling Stones.

In 1964, The Rolling Stones covered “Not Fade Away”

at Regent Sounds Studio, releasing it as their first major hit. The track reached Number 3 on the UK charts and helped establish the band in the U.S. The Stones’ version of the song appeared on their debut American LP, and later on their 1966 compilation Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass). Keith Richards reflected that the band’s early music was rooted in American rock, and that they performed it “damn good.”

In Richards’ biography, he recalls that Bobby Keys, the Stones’ saxophonist, initially thought the band was “cashing in on Buddy’s song” but later admitted they may have done it even better than Holly himself.

The song continued to inspire artists in the decades that followed. In the late ’60s, The Grateful Dead began playing “Not Fade Away”

in concert as part of a jam with “Turn On Your Lovelight”. The band included a live version on their 1971 album Skull and Roses, and it became one of their most performed songs, played over 550 times. Other notable artists, including Rush, Tom Petty, The Everly Brothers, and Stephen Stills, have also covered the song, while James Taylor included it on his 2008 album Covers.

With versions by artists like Florence and the Machine, “Not Fade Away” continues to endure, cementing its place as one of rock and roll’s most iconic tracks.

Lyrics

I’m a-gonna tell you how it’s gonna be
You’re gonna give your love to me
I wanna love you night and day
You know my love a-not fade away
A-well, you know my love a-not fade away

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My love a-bigger than a cadillac
I try to show it and you drive a-me back
Your love for me a-got to be real
For you to know just how I feel
A love for real not fade away

I’m a-gonna tell you how it’s gonna be
You’re gonna give your love to me
A love to last a-more than one day
A love that’s love – not fade away
A well, a-love that’s love – not fade away