[4][5] The song was banned by the BBC for being too "morbid",[6] regarding the death of 1950s rock and roll singer Buddy Holly, who died in a plane crash on 3 February 1959.

[8] Chad Allan and the Reflections, a band that would later become the Guess Who, recorded "Tribute to Buddy Holly" as their debut single in 1962, after hearing Berry's version.

[11] Joe Meek, producer of the session, claimed to have contact with Holly's spirit which helped him write songs.

[4] However, rumours started circulating that British Broadcasting Company had banned the single, due to the subject matter being too morbid; Holly had died only two years prior.

[21][22] Randy Bachman, lead guitarist of the band, recalled that he and a few friends were going to drive to Holly's following show in Fargo, North Dakota, when the news of his death emerged.

[9] "Tribute to Buddy Holly" was cut at Kay Bank Studios in Minneapolis, Minnesota due to the fact that Bachman recalled that the Trashmen's "Surfin' Bird" was recorded there.

[24] However, there was a mix-up with the master tapes, leading a Chad-Allan original "I Just Didn't Have the Heart" to be labeled "Tribute to Buddy Holly".

It was their only single on the Canadian-American label, with the group signing Quality Records for their follow up-record "Shy Guy"[27] The band would eventually change their name to Chad Allan and the Expressions in 1965 where they would secure a number 1 hit with "Shakin' All Over".

Swedish rock group Hep Stars recorded "Tribute to Buddy Holly" as their second single in December 1964.

[30] The song was recorded in a six-hour session which also produced "Summertime Blues", Farmer John", "Bird Dog" "If You Need Me" and "Donna".

[34] "A Tribute to Buddy Holly", along with the follow-up "Summertime Blues" were the only singles to feature Frisk on lead vocals.

[38][32] "A Tribute to Buddy Holly" is notable because it, along with "Farmer John" and "Cadillac" occupied the first, second and fourth position of that chart, only broken by "Ticket to Ride" by the Beatles at number three.

[40] Bruce Eder of AllMusic states that ""Tribute to Buddy Holly" was a less dramatic rendition of the song than Mike Berry's version.