Ritchie Valens

Richard Steven Valenzuela, who performed as Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He helped shape early rock and roll and laid the groundwork for the Chicano rock style. Valens died in a plane crash only eight months after his big break. His most famous song is "La Bamba," which he turned from a traditional Mexican folk tune into a rock hit in 1958. He also scored a number-two hit in the United States with "Donna."

Valens was born on May 13, 1941, in Pacoima, a neighborhood in Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley. His parents came from Vícam, Sonora, and were of Yaqui Native Mexican descent; they moved to the U.S. looking for a better life. Though Valenzuela is not a Yaqui surname, many Indigenous Mexican families adopted it during the Porfiriato dictatorship to avoid being forced off their land. Growing up, Valens heard traditional Mexican mariachi music, flamenco guitar, R&B, and jump blues. He showed an interest in making music by age five. His father encouraged him to learn guitar and trumpet, and he later taught himself drums. Although he was left-handed, he was so eager to play guitar that he learned on a right-handed instrument.

At 15, Valens was a student at Pacoima Junior High School when the 1957 Pacoima mid-air collision happened. He wasn’t at school that day because he was at his grandfather’s funeral. Recurring nightmares about the crash gave him a fear of flying. While at Pacoima Junior High, he would bring his guitar to school and play songs for friends on the bleachers. At 16, he joined a local band called The Silhouettes, starting as a guitarist and later becoming the lead vocalist when the original singer left. He made his performing debut with them on June 19, 1957. Valens also attended San Fernando High School.

A self-taught musician, Valens was a skilled singer and guitarist. During performances, he often made up new lyrics and added fresh riffs to popular songs. In May 1958, Bob Keane, owner of Del-Fi Records, heard about Valens from a San Fernando High student named Doug Macchia, who called him "the Little Richard of San Fernando." Keane went to see Valens play a Saturday morning show at a movie theater in San Fernando. Impressed, he invited Valens to audition at his home in Silver Lake, where he had a small basement studio with an early stereo recorder and two Neumann microphones. After that audition, Keane signed Valens to Del-Fi on May 14, 1958. Keane suggested the name "Ritchie" because there were many "Richards" around, and he shortened "Valenzuela" to "Valens" to broaden his appeal beyond any one ethnic group.

Valens went into the studio with a full band that included René Hall, Carol Kaye, and Earl Palmer. At a single session in May 1958 at Gold Star Studios, they recorded "Come On, Let's Go" (credited to Valens and Keane) and "Framed," a Leiber and Stoller song. The record was released within days and became a success. His next single was a double A-side: "Donna," written about a real girlfriend named Donna Ludwig, paired with "La Bamba." It sold over a million copies and earned a gold disc. By fall 1958, Valens had to drop out of high school due to his career. Keane booked him for shows across the U.S. and TV appearances.

On October 6, 1958, Valens appeared on Dick Clark’s *American Bandstand* singing "Come On, Let's Go." He then traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii, for the "11th Show of Stars." On December 10, 1958, he performed back at Pacoima Junior High School; that concert was later released as *Ritchie Valens in Concert at Pacoima Jr. High*, his only recorded live show. In mid-December 1958, he went to New York City after Keane got him a last-minute booking.

On February 3, 1959—known as "The Day the Music Died"—Valens died in a plane crash in Iowa. The accident also killed Buddy Holly, J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, and pilot Roger Peterson. Valens was 17. His self-titled debut album came out nine days later, and his second album, *Ritchie*, was released in October of that year. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame, the California Hall of Fame, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.