Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), better known as Ritchie Valens, was a pioneer of Rock & Roll and, as a Mexican-American born in Los Angeles, California, became the first Hispanic Rock & Roll star. Valens’ hits included ‘Come On, Let’s Go’, ‘Donna’, and ‘La Bamba’, which was adapted from a Mexican folk song; the latter became the title of the 1987 movie about his life (La Bamba), which introduced Lou Diamond Phillips as Ritchie and co-starred Esai Morales as his older half-brother Bob Morales.

Born to Steven and Concepción Valenzuela, Valens had two half-brothers and two younger sisters. His parents were originally from the town of Vícam, Sonora, in Mexico. At high school, Valens became known as ‘the Little Richard of San Fernando’. Bob Keane signed him to Del-Fi Records in Hollywood in May, 1958, and at Keane’s suggestion he shortened his name to Ritchie Valens. The hits came quickly with the double A-side of ‘Donna’ (written about Ritchie’s girlfriend Donna Ludwig) and ‘La Bamba’ selling over a million copies. Appearances across the U.S. followed and Valens had to drop out of high school in order to focus on his career.

A self-taught musician, he was an accomplished singer and guitarist, and pioneer of Chicano and Latin rock, who would influence the likes of Chris Montez, Carlos Santana, Los Lobos, and Los Lonely Boys.

In early 1959, Valens was travelling the Midwest on a multi-act Rock & Roll tour. In the early morning following a February 2nd performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, a small four-passenger Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft departed into a blinding snowstorm and crashed into Albert Juhl’s cornfield several miles after takeoff at 1.05am. The crash killed Valens, just 17 years of age, along with co-performers Buddy Holly, J.P. ‘The Big Bopper’ Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. This event inspired singer Don McLean’s popular 1971 ballad ‘American Pie’, and immortalized February 3rd as “The Day The Music Died”.

Ritchie Valens is interred in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6733 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood, California, and he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.