Artist info:
Also known as
Verified yes
GenreLatin, Rock, Pop, Rock & Roll, R&B
Rank6,300 (new)
Albums7
Songs33
AboutRitchie Valens (real name Ricardo Esteban Valenzuela Reyes) was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist, born on May 13, 1941 in Pacoima, California & dead on February 3, 1959 in Clear Lake, Iowa.
A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens' recording career lasted only eight months. During this time, however, he scored several hits, most notably "La Bamba", which was originally a Mexican folk song that Valens transformed with a rock rhythm and beat that became a hit in 1958, making Valens a pioneer of the Spanish-speaking rock and roll movement.
On February 3, 1959, on what has become known as The Day the Music Died, Valens was killed in a small plane crash in Iowa, a tragedy that also claimed the lives of fellow musicians Buddy Holly and J.P. Richardson a/k/a the Big Bopper.
Inducted into Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.
A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens' recording career lasted only eight months. During this time, however, he scored several hits, most notably "La Bamba", which was originally a Mexican folk song that Valens transformed with a rock rhythm and beat that became a hit in 1958, making Valens a pioneer of the Spanish-speaking rock and roll movement.
On February 3, 1959, on what has become known as The Day the Music Died, Valens was killed in a small plane crash in Iowa, a tragedy that also claimed the lives of fellow musicians Buddy Holly and J.P. Richardson a/k/a the Big Bopper.
Inducted into Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.