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• Ritchie Valens was an influential early rock'n'roll musician, and the first Latino rocker to gain success in the mainstream. He authored the hits "Donna", "Come On, Let's Go" and his signature song, "La Bamba." Sadly, his career lasted only a brief eight months. Valens died on February 3, 1959 at the age of 17, along with Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper in an Iowa plane crash.

• Fast Facts

  1. Birth Name: Richard Steven Valenzuela
  2. Birth: May 13, 1941
  3. Death: February 3, 1959
  4. Origin: Pacoima, California
  5. Record Label: Del-Fi Records

• Influence

  Though his hits are among the most enduring and respected of the 1950s, Valens major legacy is having been the first nationally successful Latino rock musician. In this regard, he was a major influence on 1960s bands like Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs and Question Mark and the Mysterians, as well as later acts Santana, Los Lobos, The Zeros and Los Lonely Boys.

• Recorded Work

  Unlike Holly, whose store of studio outtakes continued to be released up through the 1970s, Valens' catalog of studio recordings was mostly released by the time of his death. One would get a very different impression from the many Valens anthologies available, but most of them reprise the same songs, in one form or another. Aside from his original 1959 self-titled LP, Valens' material has included one live album (In Concert At Pacoima Junior High) and a handful of outtakes and demos.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  La Bamba Lyrics | Buddy Holly | The Big Bopper | Roy Orbison | Chuck Berry | Carl Perkins | Los Lobos | Eddie Cochran | Little Richard | Elvis Presley | Jerry Lee Lewis | The Everly Brothers | Gene Vincent | Del Shannon | Chubby Checker | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum | Ricky Nelson | Fats Domino

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