Rolling Stone ranked "Buddy Holly" #499 in its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2010).
The music video was also featured as part of the "Fun Stuff" portion of the Microsoft Windows 95 Release CD, which resulted in popularity of the video and song skyrocketing.
The single was released on what would have been Buddy Holly's 58th birthday.
The music video appears in the music exhibit in the Museum of Modern Art.