Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens & Big Bopper Exhibit Launches at Final Venue From the Night They Died originally appeared on ...

The Silhouettes featured Ritchie Valens — “the fabulous Lil’ Richi and his Crying Guitar!!” — at a 1958 appearance at the San Fernando American Legion Hall in Southern California.

From Slash’s guitar to Buddy Holly’s final tour relics, Surf Ballroom’s “Not Fade Away” immerses visitors in the stories that ...

Ritchie Valens was rescued from obscurity by a 1987 movie, “La Bamba,” that finally put the Southern California teen’s story ahead of Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper, the two older singers ...

Ritchie Valens, the groundbreaking singer-guitarist from Pacoima who inspired subsequent generations of Chicano rockeros, would be celebrating his 76th birthday on Saturday, May 13, if not for ...

"Ritchie Valens represented the San Fernando Valley with honor and respect, at performances across the nation he would proudly announce he was from the Valley," said Rocha.

There had not been a Mexican American rock star, but Ritchie Valens became an immediate sensation. His single, “Come On, Let’s Go,” rose on the national charts.

That’s Ritchie Valens; he deserves that credit. Though he died in a plane crash at 17, Ritchie Valens changed rock 'n' roll and Latin music forever.

Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson were tragically killed in a plane crash on February 3, 1959, after playing at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa.

Books about Valens, though, have been scarce. The only biography was 1987’s “Ritchie Valens, the First Latino Rocker” by Beverly Mendheim, who struggled to turn her research into a narrative.