[1] His image as a sharply dressed and attractive young man with a rebellious attitude epitomized the stance of the 1950s rocker, and in death, Cochran achieved iconic status.

His first success came when he performed the song "Twenty Flight Rock" in the film The Girl Can't Help It, starring Jayne Mansfield.

Cochran died at the age of 21 in St Martin's Hospital, Bath, Somerset, after a car accident in Chippenham, Wiltshire, at the end of his British tour with Gene Vincent in April 1960.

On April 16, after they had just performed at the Bristol Hippodrome, on their way to their next venue, Vincent, Cochran and the songwriter Sharon Sheeley were involved in a high-speed traffic accident in a private-hire taxi.

[6] Eddie Cochran also worked as a session musician and began writing songs, making a demo with Jerry Capehart, his future manager.

In 1957, Cochran starred in his second film, Untamed Youth (1957), and had yet another hit, "Sittin' in the Balcony", one of the few songs he recorded that was written by other songwriters (in this case John D. Loudermilk).

Fairchild, who was not a rock and roll performer, merely provided the initial form of the song; the co-writing credit reflects Cochran's major changes and contributions to the final product.

Members from the Kelly Four returned, Deasy and Henderson, with Stivers and Riggio being accompanied by bassist Don Meyer (later replaced by Dave Shriver).

He played "C'mon, Everybody", "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You", "Don't Blame It On Me", "Summertime Blues", "School Days", Gene Autry's "Be Honest With Me", and "Money Honey".

[22][23] During his UK Tour in 1960, Cochran performed on the BBC radio show Saturday Club and the British ABC TV programme Boy Meets Girls, hosted by Marty Wilde.

In late January 1960, Cochran appeared on two episodes and performed live an array of songs including a newly released cover of Ray Charles' "Hallelujah I Love Her So".

[24] Cochran worked mainly as a guitarist, and sometimes as a vocalist and arranger for other artists, such as Mamie Van Doren, Baker Knight, Johnny Burnette, Wynn Stewart, and Al Casey.

[25] In early 1959, two of Cochran's friends, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, along with the Big Bopper, were killed in a plane crash while on tour on February 3, 1959.

He was anxious to give up life on the road and spend his time in the studio making music, thereby reducing the chance of suffering a similar fatal accident while touring.

Cochran was backed by Marty Wilde's band The Wildcats throughout the 1960 tour, exposing the British audience to live American rock 'n' roll.

Georgie Fame, then a member of the Beat Boys and the backing band for Vincent, recollected, "I remember Eddie playing guitar and we were astounded.

They were traveling along the Bath Road in a taxi (a cream-coloured 1960 model Ford Consul Mark II saloon) from Bristol towards London to Heathrow Airport.

In addition to Cochran and Vincent, the other passengers in the vehicle were Sharon Sheeley, Patrick Tompkins (the tour manager, 29 years old), and George Martin (the 19-year-old taxi driver).

Cochran's body was flown home, and after a funeral service was buried on April 25, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress, California.

[2] In August 1960, Sheeley told Photoplay magazine, that Cochran said to her on his last day, just before entering the taxi to the airport, "You know, Shari, I've got a queer feeling that Fate's not going to let us [be together].

[43] The Eddie Cochran Memorial Project spearheaded a fundraising campaign in 2018 to restore the plaque and install a brand new "Three Steps to Heaven" base at the Chippenham crash site.

One of his posthumous releases was "Three Stars", a tribute to J.P. Richardson, better known as the Big Bopper, and Cochran's friends Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, who had all died in a plane crash just one year earlier.

On September 27, 2010, the mayor of Bell Gardens, California, declared October 3, 2010, to be "Eddie Cochran Day" to celebrate the famous musician who began his career when living in that city.

[47][48] In 1963, pop star Heinz Burt and producer Joe Meek paid tribute to Cochran with the song "Just Like Eddie" which became a top five chart hit.

[49] Played by actor Jerry Zaremba, Cochran appeared in the 1978 biopic film The Buddy Holly Story, directed by Steve Rash.

He is also credited with being one of the first to use an unwound third string to "bend" notes up a whole tone—an innovation (imparted to UK guitarist Joe Brown, who secured much session work as a result) that has since become an essential part of the standard rock guitar vocabulary.

[58][59] A range of artists have covered Cochran's songs, such as Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, the Who, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, UFO, Van Halen, Tom Petty, Rod Stewart, T. Rex, Cliff Richard, the Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, the White Stripes, the Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious, Rush, Simple Minds, George Thorogood, Guitar Wolf, Alan Jackson, the Move, David Bowie, Johnny Hallyday and U2.

On July 6, 1957, McCartney met John Lennon at the St. Peter's Church and performed a few songs for him, including Cochran's "Twenty Flight Rock".

[69] In 2016, Manning told PopWrapped, "I love rock and roll … the early stuff like Eddie Cochran and Buddy Holly, not to mention Elvis, was very important to me.

[71] The glam rock artist Marc Bolan had his main Gibson Les Paul guitar refinished in a transparent orange to resemble the Gretsch 6120 played by Cochran, who was his music hero.