Waylon Jennings

Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing guitar at eight and began performing at 14 on KVOW radio. His first band was The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a DJ on KVOW, KDAV, KYTI, and KLLL. In 1958, Buddy Holly arranged Jennings's first recording session, of "Jole Blon" and "When Sin Stops (Love Begins)". Holly hired him to play bass. In Clear Lake, Iowa, the story is told that Jennings gave up his seat on the ill-fated flight in 1959 that crashed and killed Holly, J. P. Richardson, Ritchie Valens, and pilot Roger Peterson.

Jennings then worked as a DJ in Coolidge, Arizona, and Phoenix. He formed a rockabilly club band, The Waylors. He recorded for independent label Trend Records and A&M Records before succeeding with RCA Victor after achieving creative control.