Biography of ritchie valens

The tragedy was later immortalized as "the day the music died" in the song "American Pie. Growing in Pacoima, Valens developed a love of music early on and learned to play a number of different instruments. However, the guitar soon became his passion. At 16 years old, Valens joined his biography of ritchie valens band, the Silhouettes.

The group played local gigs, and Valens was spotted at one of these performances by Bob Keane, the head of the Del-Fi record label. With Keane's help, the young performer was posied for a career breakthrough. Valens auditioned for Keane's record label in Mayand before long, he had his first single out on Del-Fi. The song, "Come On, Let's Go," became a minor hit.

Keane also encouraged the young singer to shorten his last name to "Valens" to make it more radio friendly. Valens had even greater success with his second single, which featured "La Bamba" and "Donna. After his death, Elvis Presley had one of his bodyguards arrange a date with Ludwig so that he could know all about Valens. The tour was plagued by subzero temperatures and numerous logistical problems.

The unheated tour buses twice broke down in freezing weather, with Valens and Richardson experiencing flu -like symptoms throughout the tour. After the bus stalled in Duluth, Minnesota on January 31, conditions were so bad that Holly's drummer, Carl Bunchwas hospitalized for severe frostbite sustained on the bus. After the February 2,performance in Clear Lake, Iowa which ended around midnightHolly, Richardson, and Valens flew out of the Mason City airport in a small plane that Holly had chartered.

Valens is apocryphally said to have remarked, "That's the first time I've ever won anything in my life. Richardsonwho was ill with the flu. At around a. The cause was apparently loss of control by the pilot Roger Peterson, who was not qualified for the deteriorating weather. As with Holly, Richardson and Peterson, Valens suffered massive fatal head injuries along with blunt-force trauma to the chest.

Valens was a pioneer of Chicano rock and Latin rockinspiring many musicians of Mexican heritage. He influenced the likes of Los LobosLos Lonely Boysand Carlos Santanaas Valens had become nationally successful at a time when very few Latinos were in American rock and pop music. He is considered the first Latino to successfully cross over into mainstream rock.

The Valenzuela family spoke only English at home, and he knew very little Spanish. Inthe Valens version of "La Bamba" was selected by the U. Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry as "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant". InBillboard magazine listed Valens on its list of the 30 most influential Latino artists in history, citing "the influence of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer lives on in today's Latin alternative artists" and also citing "the pioneering Latino artists's enduring crossover hit "La Bamba" proved early on that Mexican-rooted music and Spanish lyrics appealed to the mainstream".

Robert Quine has cited Valens's guitar playing as an early influence on his style. Valens's mother, Concha, who died inis buried alongside him. InKen Paquette, a Wisconsin fan of the s 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.

It is located on private farmland, about 1. He also created a similar stainless-steel monument to the three musicians that was installed near the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin. That memorial was unveiled on July 17, There is also a pool nearby named the Ritchie Valens Pool. At the recreation center, there is also a skatepark named Ritchie Valens Skate Plaza.

A city council member representing Pacoima proposed the renaming to honor Valens so residents would "remember his humble background and emulate his accomplishments. The club was named for the fateful coin toss between Valens and him twenty years prior. It did not credit Valens or Bob Keaneinstead crediting Valens' mother. Eventually, a lawsuit was filed by Keane, and half of the award went to Valens' mother, although she was not part of the suit.

His star permanently resides at Hollywood Boulevard in front of Artisan's Patio mini mall. The event lasted one week and had performances that honored the memories of the three men. Family members and friends of the stars made appearances. Many murals have been painted around Pacoima in honor of the late Valens. Inartist Manuel Velasquez assisted by 25 students created a by ft 3.

A monument has also been built as a tribute. The Ritchie Valens Memorial Highway is located between the and freeways. Replicas of the freeway sign were revealed at the celebration. The event was open to the public and free to attend. A few relatives of Valens played live performances as a tribute to the late singer. Leaders from the community and state gathered for the festivities.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. American rock musician — Nonetheless, his father and other family biographies of ritchie valens noted Valens interest in music when he was still a small child. It is rumored that on more than one occasion he built makeshift guitars from scavenged items such as cigar boxes, tin cans, and the like.

Joseph Valenzuela eventually presented his son with a real guitar and encouraged the boy to play, especially at parties and get-togethers, although Valens himself was completely reticent at first. In time, Valens grew increasingly comfortable with performing; he always enjoyed the music, and he spent hours practicing whenever he had the chance.

At first Valens envisioned himself as a "singing cowboy" and emulated the style of those heroes. It was not until later that Valens developed a personal style in his music. While Valens was still at Haddon Elementary School his father's health wasling. Heassed away inmost likely from diabetes or atroke. Young Valens was only 11 years old at that time.

It is believed that he lived with an uncle in Santa Monica shortly afterwards and that he lived with an uncle in Norfolk, California for a time and attended Norfolk Elementary. Eventually Valens, along with his mother, his brother and two younger half-sisters, Connie Jr. Valens, who always spoke English with his father, picked up Spanish from his mother's family.

Valens also learned new guitar chords and musical styles from other family members who also played the guitar, including one uncle in particular, John Lozano. By then he was very involved in his music. He enjoyed playing his guitar so much that he brought it to school with him regularly. Valens and his guitar were permanent fixtures on the Pacoima Junior High School grounds during recess periods, when he played and sang to the amusement of his schoolmates.

Soon Valens was entertaining at school programs. His musical style evolved dramatically during those intermediate years. He encouraged his friends to sing along and contribute to the music, and helping him develop his "of the people"style. He also learned to establish a rapport with his audience and he acquired a penchant for improvising melodies and words.

His record producers would note later that when Valens played a song it was different every time. His songs were like games, where everyone listening could take a turn, making up verses and singing.

Biography of ritchie valens

While it was not quite a bona fide top forty hit, "Come On, Let's Go" sold overcopies and led to Valens's first appearance on American Bandstand on October 6, By that time Valens was in demand for concert appearances across the country and had dropped out of San Fernando Valley High School. Valens's next release was a double-sided single, "Donna" and "La Bamba.

The song remains an early rock classic as a teenager-in-love ballad. The single's flip side, "La Bamba," also became a classic of a different sort. Based on a traditional tune popular at Mexican weddings, the lyrics of "La Bamba" were adapted from the huapango, which used nonsense lyrics in boastful exchanges among singers. In Valens's rock-and-roll version, the lyrics featured a drunken sailor insisting that he could dance la bamba better than anyone else.

While the song was not as popular as "Donna," it hit the top 30 on the pop charts in February of One of the few foreign-language pop hits on the American charts, "La Bamba" was an unusual hit for its era. It was also an unusual choice for Valens to record, as he spoke only rudimentary Spanish and had to learn the lyrics to the song from his mother's relatives.

Although he was aware of his Mexican heritage, Valens spoke only a couple of words of Spanish while he was growing up with his father, who was a native of California. Later on, he picked up a few more phrases, but he was never conversant in the language. The Winter Dance Party series would be Valens's first national tour. Before leaving on the Winter Dance Party tour, Valens entered the Gold Star studio for a final recording date in early January of With his first album, Ritchie Valens, slated for release in February ofValens joined the concert tour as it kicked off in Milwaukee on January 23rd.

After playing a series of dates around the upper Midwest, the musicians played to about 1, fans at the Surf Ballroom at Clear Lake, Iowa, on the night of February 2nd. Hoping to catch up on some rest, headliner Buddy Holly decided to charter a plane to get to the tour's next gig in Minnesotawhile the rest of the group traveled by bus.

Valens and Richardson joined him for the flight, which was piloted by twenty-one-year-old Roger Peterson. Disoriented by poor visibility in the darkness, Peterson crashed the plane almost immediately after takeoff; there were no survivors of the February 3rd accident. The sudden loss of three popular performers stunned music fans. Compilations of Valens's work have remained in print continuously.

In Don McLean's song commemorating the event,"American Pie," hit number one as it recalled "the day the music died. Revived by Los Lobos ina remake of "La Bamba" eventually returned to the pop charts as a number one single. The song was included on the soundtrack to the film of the same name, which introduced Ritchie Valens to a new generation of music fans as the first Latino rock-and-roll star.

Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Borden, Timothy " Valens, Ritchie: Performer. Borden, Timothy "Valens, Ritchie: Performer. January 8, Retrieved January 08, from Encyclopedia. Then, copy and biography of ritchie valens the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.

In a recording career that spanned less than two years and produced only one album released during his lifetime, Ritchie Valensborn Richard Steven Valenzuela, has had an enduring influence on rock 'n roll music despite the fact that he died before his eighteenth birthday in a plane crash that also claimed the lives of rockers Buddy Holly and J.

Richardson The Big Bopper.