Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Austin Allsup recently posted this photo to Facebook of his dad, Tommy, posing with him and Austin’s two daughters, Jagger and Allie, on the set of The Voice.

Austin’s dad, longtime musician Tommy Allsup, died Wednesday at age 85.

Billboard reports that he died from complications from a hernia operation.

Earlier this month on Facebook, Austin asked for prayers for his father, saying he was in intensive care following surgery.

We met Austin’s dad — and heard his amazing story — during the blind audition episodes of Season 11.

Tommy Allsup was Buddy Holly’s guitarist in 1959 when Holly hired a plane to take the band from Iowa to Fargo, North Dakota.

Ritchie Valens flipped a coin with Tommy to see who would get the last seat on the plane. Valens won; the plane crashed, claiming the life of Valens, Holly and J.P. Richardson, known as “The Big Bopper.”

Austin told us he didn’t meet his dad until he was 17. At the time, Tommy Allsup was part of the Bob Wills Texas Playboys and Austin served as a roadie for the band and said he would jump on stage to perform with them every chance he got.

“As a young kid, I always aspired to sing and stuff,” Austin said following his Voice audition. “But it was more of a dream until I met my old man and saw that he had made a living and been doing this for 60 or 70 years now.”

Austin also said one of his all-time favorite performances was getting to perform with his dad and other greats at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.