Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959),[3] better known by his stage name Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter.

Valens was born as Richard Steven Valenzuela on May 13, 1941, in Pacoima,[3] a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles.

The son of Joseph Steven Valenzuela (1896–1952) and Concepción "Concha" Reyes (1915–1987), he had two half-brothers, Robert "Bob" Morales (1937–2018) and Mario Ramirez, and two younger sisters, Connie and Irma.

Valenzuela was brought up hearing traditional Mexican mariachi music, as well as flamenco guitar,[7] R&B, and jump blues.

[11] When Valenzuela was 16 years old, he was invited to join a local band, The Silhouettes (not to be confused with the group of the same name famous for its hit song "Get a Job").

Swayed by the Little Richard comparison, Keane went to see Valenzuela play a Saturday-morning matinée at a movie theater in San Fernando.

Impressed by the performance, he invited Valenzuela to audition at his home in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, where he had a small recording studio in his basement.

Similarly, Keane recommended shortening his surname to "Valens" from Valenzuela to widen his appeal beyond any obvious ethnic group.

Keane had managed to book him as a late addition to "Alan Freed's Christmas Jubilee Show" where Valens performed with The Everly Brothers, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Jackie Wilson, Eddie Cochran and others.

[16] On January 17, 1959, he appeared at West Covina High School with Sam Cooke for a student organized fundraiser called "The Teen Canteen Foundation".

Valens was one of the five acts billed for the Winter Dance Party tour, performing with Buddy Holly, "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson, Dion and the Belmonts, and Frankie Sardo beginning on January 23, 1959, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

[22] Bob Hale, a disc jockey with Mason City's KRIB-AM, was emceeing the concert that night and flipped the coin in the ballroom's side-stage room shortly before the musicians departed for the airport.

As with Holly, Richardson and Peterson, Valens suffered massive fatal head injuries along with blunt-force trauma to the chest.

The tragedy inspired singer Don McLean to write his 1971 hit "American Pie", immortalizing February 3 as "The Day the Music Died".

"La Bamba" proved to be his most influential recording, not only by becoming a pop chart hit sung entirely in Spanish, but also because of its successful blending of traditional Latin American music with rock.

Valens was the first to capitalize on this formula, which was later adopted by such varied artists as Carlos Santana, Selena, Caifanes, Café Tacuba, Circo, El Gran Silencio, Aterciopelados, Gustavo Santaolalla, and many others in the Latin alternative scene.

In 2019, the Valens version of "La Bamba" was selected by the U.S. Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry as "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant".

"Donna" has been recorded by artists as diverse as MxPx, Marty Wilde, the Youngbloods, Clem Snide, Cappadonna, and Misfits.

Valens also inspired Jimi Hendrix, Chan Romero, Carlos Santana, The Beatles, Chris Montez, Keith O'Conner Murphy, The Beach Boys and Led Zeppelin, among others.

[29] In 1989, Ken Paquette, a Wisconsin fan of the 1950s era, erected a stainless-steel monument depicting a guitar and a set of three records bearing the names of each of the three performers killed in the accident.

A city council member representing Pacoima proposed the renaming to honor Valens so residents would "remember his humble background and emulate his accomplishments.

[34] "Boogie with Stu" from Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti album was inspired by Valens' song "Ooh, My Head".

[36] On February 2, 2009, Surf Ballroom held a 50th anniversary honoring the last concert of Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, and Valens.

In 1985, artist Manuel Velasquez (assisted by 25 students) created a 12- by 20-ft (3.6- by 6.1 meters) mural, which was painted on the side of a classroom building at the former Pacoima Junior High (now Pacoima Middle School) depicting Valens's image, records labeled with some of his greatest hits, and the newspaper article about the plane crash that took his life.