Ongoing Daily: Weezer and the story behind their hit, Buddy Holly

Weezer started playing shows around Los Angeles in 1991 and we’re exactly the coolest band around. Next to grunge and the remnant of hair metal, they were pretty nerdy and uncool. Still, they managed to find a record deal by June 1993 because there could be a niche for them with all this alternative music happening at the time.

A major break came when someone in the band started making fun of Rivers Cuomo’s friend, a woman named Kyung He. That inspired him to write the lines “What’s with these homies, dissing my girl?” From there, the words to Buddy Holly just spilled out.

At first, he was wary of bringing the song to the rest of the group because it had emerged from the tension between him and everyone else. And when they started rehearsing it, Rivers didn’t want it on the first album. It took at lot—and I mean a LOT—of convincing from producer Ric Ocasek to convince Rivers that it needed to be on the record.

He eventually gave in and the rest is history.