Entertainment
Sonny Curtis on a career spanning Buddy Holly and Mary Tyler Moore
The theme song to “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” is familiar to generations of TV watchers. The name of the man who wrote and sang it, less so.
Who can turn the world on with her smile?
Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?
Well, it’s you, girl, and you should know it
With each glance and every little movement you show it
Love is all around, no need to waste it
You can have the town, why don’t you take it
You’re gonna make it after all
But by the time Sonny Curtis recorded “Love Is All Around” in 1970, he’d “made it” several times over himself, as a songwriter, as a recording artist, and as an early bandmate of the legendary Buddy Holly.
Born in 1937 in rural West Texas, Curtis grew up picking cotton on his father’s farm. “Oh, it was a miserable job,” he told correspondent Mo Rocca. “The heavier the cotton sack gets, the worse it is, man.”
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His love of music came from family. His aunt taught him to play the guitar, and while working those fields, Curtis dreamed up his own songs: “Driving a tractor, you go down half a mile that way, and when you get there, you turn around and come back a half mile this way. You have plenty of time to write a song!”
Curtis was just 14 when he met a young Buddy Holly in nearby Lubbock. “Buddy had black hair, but he had dyed it blonde, and it was growing out. And he reminded me of a black-and-tan coon hound. We sorta skipped all the niceties and got our guitars and started playing.”
Rocca asked, “How quickly did you realize this guy’s serious about music?”
“Buddy, he exuded confidence. He just knew he was gonna make it big one day.”
The two became fast friends, bonded by their love of music. Sometimes, Curtis said, he’d spend the night at Buddy’s. The two would wake up at midnight and flip on the car radio for a show out of Shreveport, Louisiana, to hear some of the rhythm and blues voices that would shape rock ‘n’ roll: “We heard, oh, Big Mama Thornton and Lonnie Johnson, and Lead Belly, Little Richard, Ray Charles, you name it.”
“Were you just absorbing this?” asked Rocca.
“Oh, boy, were we ever, yeah!”
Buddy and Sonny had formed a band and were still figuring out their own sound, when a then little-known Elvis Presley came to town. “And I mean, the girls were goin’ nuts, man. And that really got our attention. All a sudden, we thought, this not only involves music, this involves pretty girls!”
When Elvis came back to town in 1956, Buddy and Sonny’s band was the opening act. “Well, I guess we were right there sort of at the beginning of rock ‘n’ roll.”
“What was Elvis like backstage?” asked Rocca.
“He was just an old boy.”
The band went on to record some demos, but wasn’t making much money.
So, Curtis left to tour with country star Slim Whitman. “He treated me kind of like a little brother,” Curtis said. “I remember I’d be on the stage and he’d come over and say, ‘Now don’t be nervous.'”
Meanwhile, Buddy Holly formed a new band, which would prove to be seminal. The Crickets shot to fame, appearing on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
Rocca asked, “When that was happening, did you feel a little left out, like, ‘Ugh’?”
“I did feel kind of like the train left the station and I wasn’t on it, you know?” Curtis replied.
But on February 3, 1959, Curtis’ friend and former bandmate died in a plane crash near Clear Lake Iowa.
Curtis served as a pallbearer.
“Buddy Holly was 22 when he died,” Rocca said.
“Yes. Can you imagine the amount of music he pumped into the system in a short period of, like, 18 months? No telling how much he would’ve contributed had he been around.”
By that time, Curtis had joined the Crickets. But with Holly gone, the band felt rudderless.
It was Curtis’ talent for songwriting that helped put the wind back in his sails. His song “Walk Right Back” became a big hit for the Everly Brothers:
And then there’s this classic, which Curtis claims he wrote in about 20 minutes: “I Fought the Law”:
“I Fought the Law” has been covered by artists from The Bobby Fuller Four to The Clash.
Sonny Curtis is 84 now. He and Louise, his wife of more than 50 years, live outside Nashville, where they raised their daughter, Sarah. He is enshrined in Nashville’s Musicians Hall of Fame – as is his old guitar.
In 2012, the year the Crickets retired, they were inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.
But it’s a song Curtis wrote for the small screen that may be his most enduring legacy.
In 1970, he was living in Los Angeles when he got a call from a friend about a new sitcom being produced for Mary Tyler Moore: “It was just this young girl gets jilted in this small community, and she moves to the big city of Minneapolis, gets a job at a news station. And that was about it.”
Curtis wrote the theme song based on a four-page description of the show. “I honed in on the part that she rented an apartment she had a hard time affording, and wrote, ‘How will you make it on your own?’ … ‘This world is awfully big, and girl, this time you’re all alone.'”
Within just a few hours, Curtis was summoned to the studio to play his song for producer James L. Brooks. Curtis recalled, “I got my guitar out and I sang it to him. He smiled and said, ‘Sing that again.’ And I had to sing it about ten times. And before I left that afternoon, the room was full of people standing all around the walls. I thought, ‘I believe I got a shot at this!'”
WEB EXTRA: Sonny Curtis on writing the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” theme song
Rocca said, “It wasn’t a given that you’d write and sing it.”
“No. As a matter of fact they didn’t want me to sing it. I said, ‘I wanna sing this,’ you know? And I was probably more pushy than I should have been, if I’da known better. But fortunately, I didn’t know better at the time!”
When the show became a hit, Curtis was asked to rework his song: “When they started to do the second season, he said, ‘Sonny, she’s obviously made it. And we have to have some new lyrics.'”
For a man whose career dates back to the birth of rock ‘n’ roll, Sonny Curtis remains disarmingly humble. “Oh, I’ve always sort of had a rule, don’t give advice in a crowd,” he laughed.
But when pressed, he will share some wisdom: “If they say, ‘Man, you oughta go back to Texas ’cause you’ll never make it,’ just look at them and say, ‘No, you’re wrong, because I am gonna make it.'”
Rocca replied, “You know, I should write this down, ’cause this sounds like a song right here!”
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Story produced by Michelle Kessel. Editor: Lauren Barnello. Illustrations: Mitch Butler.
Walton Goggins has nothing but admiration for his new Fallout co-star, Macaulay Culkin.
Speaking about Culkin’s surprise debut in season 2 of the Prime Video series, Goggins revealed that he was caught off guard by the casting.
But he quickly realized how perfectly the Home Alone actor fit into the apocalyptic world.
“I didn’t know about him because they don’t tell me a lot of things,” Goggins admitted in a recent interview with People.
“Justin [Theroux] I knew about, obviously, and Jon [Gries] and a few other people, but Macaulay I didn’t know about,” Goggins admitted, recalling how the news of Culkin’s involvement came as a surprise.
“When they told me, I just lit up because I think the world of him. We had such a great time on Righteous Gemstones and we became friends after that.”
For Goggins, Culkin’s casting was more than just a reunion with a former co-star.
“The way he fits into this world is so specific and he is so uniquely suited for it,” he said, emphasizing how Culkin’s thoughtful approach to the role elevated the performance.
Showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet echoed the sentiment, praising Culkin’s creative vision for the character.
“He had this very particular read on the kind of character that he wanted to play within the Legion and I think he really brought that to the screen,” she explained.
For the unversed, new episodes of Fallout season 2 debut Wednesdays on Prime Video until the finale on February 4, 2026
As revelers from around the world get ready to ring in 2026 in New York City’s Times Square, preparations are underway for a New Year’s Eve celebration packed with live performances.
Crowds have gathered to watch the ball drop from atop the skyscraper at One Times Square on New Year’s for more than a century. At this year’s festivities, organizers are planning a star-studded lineup of entertainment featuring Diana Ross, Ciara, Maren Morris, Little Big Town and more.
But it’s not the only New Year’s celebration with A-list performers on tap. Some top country music stars usher in 2026 on CBS’ “New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash,” with Jason Aldean, Lainey Wilson and CeCe Winans just a few of those taking the stage.
Here’s what to know about who is scheduled to perform, and when, this New Year’s Eve.
Full list of Times Square New Year’s Eve performers
New Year’s Eve celebrations officially kick off in Times Square at 6 p.m. ET with the lighting and raising of the ball that will drop at midnight. The evening features performances from some big names in the entertainment world:
- James McCarthy
- B.o.B
- Ciara
- Tones And I
- LE SSERAFIM
- AGNEW, a New York dance group
- Robyn
- Little Big Town
- Xavi
- Maren Morris
- Ana Barbara
- Diana Ross
When is Diana Ross performing on New Year’s Eve?
Legendary singer Diana Ross is scheduled to perform a medley of her hit songs, including “I’m Coming Out” and “Upside Down,” on the Countdown Stage in Times Square beginning at 11:37 p.m. ET on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” on ABC. Ross is the recipient of two Grammy Awards for Lifetime Achievement — one as a solo artist and one with the Motown group The Supremes — as well as a Tony, multiple American Music Awards, a Golden Globe and Kennedy Center Honors.
When is Ciara performing on New Year’s Eve?
Grammy-winning singer Ciara‘s Times Square performance is expected to air sometime between midnight and 12:30 a.m. ET on “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” according to an ABC spokesperson. Twenty-one of the R&B artist’s songs have made it onto Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, including her 2004 hit “Goodies,” which claimed the No. 1 spot for seven weeks. Earlier this year, Ciara released “CiCi,” her first album since 2019.
When is Little Big Town performing on New Year’s Eve?
Country music group Little Big Town is scheduled to play a medley of their hits starting at 9:35 p.m. ET on “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.” The band has been together for over a quarter-century with 32 songs making Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, including their 2014 hit “Girl Crush,” which was No. 1 for 13 weeks. Along the way, Little Big Town was named vocal group of the year six times by the Country Music Association and four times by the Academy of Country Music, and they’ve won three Grammys.
When is Maren Morris performing on New Year’s Eve?
Country music star Maren Morris is scheduled to perform a medley of her songs starting at 10:33 p.m. ET on “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.” The singer-songwriter, who released her latest album “Dreamsicle” earlier this year, rose to stardom with her 2016 hit “My Church.” The song won her a Grammy and peaked at No. 5 on the Hot Country Songs chart.
When is Robyn performing on New Year’s Eve?
Swedish pop star Robyn is scheduled to sing her 2010 songs “Dancing on My Own” and “Call Your Girlfriend” as well as her new single “Dopamine” starting at 9:18 p.m. ET on CNN’s “New Year’s Eve Live.” “Dancing on My Own” was named the top song of the 2010s by the Associated Press’ music editor. More recently, a writer for Britain’s The Guardian likened it to Donna Summer’s “Last Dance” and Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.”
When is Tones And I performing on New Year’s Eve?
Australian singer-songwriter Tones And I is scheduled to perform her hits “Dance Monkey,” “Fly Away” and “Gone Gone Gone” starting at 8:03 p.m. ET on the official livestream of the festivities in Times Square. She’s expected to return at 11:55 p.m. for her version of John Lennon’s iconic song “Imagine” before the countdown to 2026. “Dance Monkey” climbed to the No. 4 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in 2020, and “Gone Gone Gone,” her new song with David Guetta and Teddy Swims, has been on the chart for the past three weeks.
Schedule for tonight’s Times Square performers
When are your favorite acts performing? Here is a list of the scheduled times for each performance (all times Eastern). Organizers note that the times on the live schedule may not match the exact broadcast time.
- 6:03 p.m.-6:05 p.m. — James McCarthy sings the national anthem
- 6:30 p.m.-6:43 p.m. — B.o.B performs two of his hits plus a new song
- 8:03 p.m.-8:14 p.m. — Tones And I performs three of her hit songs
- 8:26 p.m.-8:32 p.m. — LE SSERAFIM performs their hit songs on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” on ABC
- 8:41 p.m.-8:46 p.m. — AGNEW, a New York dance group, performs
- 9:18 p.m.- 9:31 p.m. — Robyn performs three of her hit songs on “New Year’s Eve Live” on CNN
- 9:35 p.m.-9:42 p.m. — Little Big Town performs a medley of their hit songs on “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”
- 10:02 p.m.-10:08 p.m. — Xavi performs a medley of his hit songs on “Feliz 2026” on Univision
- 10:33 p.m.-10:41 p.m. — Maren Morris performs a medley of her hit songs on “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”
- 11:02 p.m.-11:08 p.m. — Ana Barbara performs a medley of her hit songs on “Feliz 2026”
- 11:37 p.m.-11:46 p.m. — Diana Ross performs a medley of her hit songs on “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”
- 11:55 p.m.-11:58 p.m. — Tones And I returns for a special performance ahead of the ball drop
- After midnight — Ciara performs a medley of her hit songs on “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”
Who’s performing on CBS’ “New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash”?
Music stars help welcome the new year in Nashville on CBS’ “New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash.” Five hours of festivities air from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET/PT and 10:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. ET/PT, on the CBS television network and streaming on Paramount+.
Jason Aldean, Lainey Wilson and Bailey Zimmerman headline the celebration, with special guests CeCe Winans and the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Comedian and actor Bert Kreischer and country music artist Hardy serve as hosts.
The Nashville event includes a countdown at midnight and the city’s traditional Music Note Drop and fireworks, the organizers said.
Here’s a list of scheduled performers and special appearances:
- Jason Aldean
- Lainey Wilson
- Bailey Zimmerman
- CeCe Winans
- The Fisk Jubilee Singers
- Dierks Bentley
- Brooks & Dunn
- Rascal Flatts
- Zach Top
- Keith Urban
- Gretchen Wilson
- Stephen Wilson Jr.
- Riley Green
- Megan Moroney
- Dwight Yoakam
- Marcus King
- Cody Alan
- Caylee Hammack
- Comedian Dusty Slay
- UFC champion Kayla Harrison
- Entertainment Tonight’s Cassie DiLaura
- Sirius XM host Buzz Brainard
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