Buddy Ace Buddy Ace Jimmie Lee Land, known as Buddy Ace (November 11, 1936 – December 25, 1994) was an American Texas blues singer, billed as the "Silver Fox of the Blues." Born in Jasper, Texas, he was raised in Baytown near Houston, and began his career by singing gospel in a group that included Joe Tex. He joined up with other blues singers, Bobby "Blue" Bland and Junior Parker, before signing to Duke/Peacock Records in 1955 and agreeing to be credited as "Buddy Ace", a name previously used by the late Johnny Ace's brother, St. Clair Alexander. He recorded a string
Johnny Ace off, shooting him in the side of the head. According to his biographer Nick Tosches, Ace shot himself with a .32 pistol, not a .22, and it happened little more than an hour after he had bought a new 1955 Oldsmobile. Ace's funeral was held on January 2, 1955, at Clayborn Temple AME church in Memphis. It was attended by an estimated 5,000 people. His remains were buried at New Park Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee. "Pledging My Love" was a posthumous R&B number 1 hit for 10 weeks beginning February 12, 1955. As "Billboard" bluntly put it, Ace's death "created