February 3 is the Day the music died. Ritchie Valens, born Richard Valenzuela is considered the first Mexican-American rock star in the United States.
Valens is perhaps best known for his song “La Bamba” which is an adaptation of a Mexican folk song. Valens transformed the song into one with a rock rhythm and beat, and it became a 1958 hit, making Richard Steven Valenzuela was a rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement. He also had an American number-two hit with “Donna.”
The Day The Music Died
Valens was killed in an airplane crash with The Big Bopper and Buddy Holly on their way to a concert.
Valens was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.