* 1924 – Rudy Pompilli, American musician ( Bill Haley & His Comets ) ( d. 1976 )

Holly's transition to rock continued when he opened for Bill Haley & His Comets at a local show organized by Eddie Crandall, the manager for Marty Robbins.

William John Clifton " Bill " Haley (; July 6, 1925 – February 9, 1981 ) was one of the first American rock and roll musicians.

He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets ( inspired by Halley's Comet ) and million selling hits such as, " Rock Around the Clock ", " See You Later Alligator ", and " Shake Rattle and Roll ".

Bill Haley was born in Highland Park, Michigan as William John Clifton Haley.

The sleeve notes continue: " When Bill Haley was fifteen he left home with his guitar and very little else and set out on the hard road to fame and fortune.

During the 1940s Haley was considered one of the top cowboy yodelers in America as " Silver Yodeling Bill Haley ".

The sleeve notes conclude: " For six years Bill Haley was a musical director of Radio Station WPWA in Chester, Pennsylvania, and led his own band all through this period.

Bill Haley and the Comets performing during 1974

During the Labor Day weekend in 1952, The Saddlemen were renamed Bill Haley with Haley's Comets ( inspired by a popular mispronunciation of Halley's Comet ), and in 1953, Haley's recording of " Crazy Man, Crazy " ( co-written by Haley and his bass player, Marshall Lytle although Lytle would not receive credit until 2001 ) became the first rock and roll song to hit the American charts, peaking at no. 15 on Billboard and no. 11 on Cash Box.

Soon after, the band's name was revised to Bill Haley & His Comets.

However this account is questionable as Bill Haley never performed in the United States in 1980.

In March 2007, the Original Comets pre-opened the Bill Haley Museum in Munich, Germany.

On October 27, 2007, ex-Comets guitar player Bill Turner opened the Bill Haley Museum for the public.

Married three times, Bill Haley had at least four children.

Bill Haley Jr. ( Haley's second son and first with Joan Barbara " Cuppy " Haley-Hahn ) publishes a regional business magazine in Southeastern Pennsylvania ( Route 422 Business Advisor ).

He sings and plays guitar with a band called " Bill Haley and the Satellites ," and released a CD in 2011.

In February, 2011, he formed a tribute band " Bill Haley Jr. and the Comets ," performing his father's music and telling the stories behind the songs.

* In 1980, Haley began working on an autobiography entitled The Life and Times of Bill Haley but died after completing only 100 pages.

* In 1982, John Swenson wrote Bill Haley: The Daddy of Rock and Roll ( published in the UK under the title, Bill Haley ).

* 1964 – Melinda Gates, American businesswoman and philanthropist, co-founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

* Bill " Fonzie " Alfonso, former Wrestling referee & manager.

: See the discography section of Bill Haley & His Comets for a list of the singles and album releases made by Haley with the Saddlemen and the Comets from 1950 onwards.

* The Bill Haley & His Comets Story ( German )

Category: Bill Haley & His Comets members

He had a recurring role as " Bill Church Jr ." based upon the character of Moxie Mannheim's son ( Bruno Mannheim ) from the Superman comics on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

In 1952, the upright bass was a standard instrument in rock and roll music, Marshall Lytle of Bill Haley & His Comets being but one example.

In some groups, the slap bass was utilized as band percussion in lieu of a drummer ; such was the case with Bill Haley & His Saddlemen ( the forerunner group to the Comets ), which did not use drummers on recordings and live performances until late 1952 ; prior to this the slap bass was relied on for percussion, including on recordings such as Haley's versions of Rock the Joint and Rocket 88.

Well-known rockabilly bassists include Bill Black, Marshall Lytle ( with Bill Haley & His Comets ) and Lee Rocker ( with 1980s-era rockabilly revivalists the Stray Cats ).

ELO's debut concert took place on 15 April 1972 at The Fox & Hounds Pub in Croydon, U. K. with a line-up of Wood, Lynne, Bevan, Bill Hunt ( horns, keyboards ), Wilfred Gibson ( violin ), Hugh McDowell ( cello ), Mike Edwards, Andy Craig ( cello ) and Richard Tandy on bass.

* 1981 – Bill Haley, American musician ( Bill Haley & His Comets ) ( b. 1925 )

That year, Brown also launched, under King auspices, Try Me Records, releasing records off singers such as Tammy Montgomery, Johnny & Bill and the Poets, the latter group confirmed to be that of Brown's backing band.

* 1925 – Bill Haley, American singer-songwriter and musician ( Bill Haley & His Comets ) ( d. 1981 )

Reeves is known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure as well as Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix.

* 1954 – Bill Haley & His Comets release " Rock Around the Clock ", the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the Billboard charts.

* 1996 – Billy Williamson, American musician ( Bill Haley & His Comets ) ( b. 1925 )

* Troy, Thomas F. Wild Bill & Intrepid ( New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996 )

* Paramount has TV and digital rights to some films in the Nelson Entertainment catalog, also as a result of the Viacom merger, including the Bill & Ted films – all other rights, including Nelson's later films and the copyright to Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, reside with MGM ( several other Nelson films are owned by Paramount for TV and digital distribution through the Spelling merger, as Worldvision at one point had rights to some Nelson films as well );

Prior to the formation of Bill Haley and the Saddlemen, which later became The Comets, Haley released several singles with other groups.

Bill Haley's compositions included " Four Leaf Clover Blues ", " Crazy Man, Crazy ", " What ' Cha Gonna Do ", " Fractured ", " Live It Up ", " Farewell, So Long, Goodbye ", " Real Rock Drive ", " Rocking Chair on the Moon ", " Sundown Boogie ", " Birth Of The Boogie ", " Two Hound Dogs ", " Rock-A-Beatin ' Boogie ", " Hot Dog Buddy Buddy ", " R-O-C-K ", " Rudy's Rock ", " Calling All Comets ", " Tonight's the Night ", " Hook, Line and Sinker ", " Sway with Me ", " Paper Boy ( On Main Street U. S. A .)", " Skinny Minnie ", " B. B.

* Bill Haley's new Comets web site

* Bill Haley Jr. and the Comets site