Ritchie Valens was born as Richard Steven Valenzuela on May 13, 1941. He was born and raised in Pacoima, California, an area in Los Angeles. Ritchie’s parents were Concepcion (Connie) Reyes and Joseph Steven Valenzuela. He was the second of five siblings. His parents divorced when he was three years old and he lived with his father.
Ritchie’s father helped him develop a passion for music, which he taught himself to play the guitar, write music, and sing. When he got into high school he joined garage band called the Silhouettes. During this time he began dating a girl named Donna Ludwig. Later one she would become the inspiration for one of his hit songs, “Donna.” While performing with the Silhouettes, Bob Keane, the owner of Del-Fi records, discovered Ritchie in May 1958. He had Ritchie come to his studio and
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Ritchie had a fear of flying from years ago when he was in Junior High. Two planes crashed mid-air causing debris to fall into his schoolyard killing his best friend. Ritchie felt he had been saved that day by the death of his grandfather since he missed school to attend his funeral. This caused him to have nightmares throughout the years and develop a fear of flying. Ritchie would reluctantly start flying, but his fear would later come true.
While touring for the "Winter Dance Party" the heat on his bus broke. Buddy Holly offered a seat on his small plane to one of the performers, that ended up going to Ritchie after winning a coin toss. The plane would crash and take the lives of everyone on board including Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper. February 3, 1959, would be known as “The Day the Music Died.” Ritchie Valens was only 17 years old and had only been famous for 8 months before he died. His legacy lives on in songs such as “American Pie," the movie “La Bamba,” and the music he wrote and