In the dark, early hours of 3 February 1959, a small nondescript plane, battered by wind and snow, crashed to earth in an For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy. to Ritchies fans and support of Ritchies family continues to show On Jan. 31, 1957, two planes collided mid-air, sending one plummeting to the ground, crashing into the junior high's grounds. 0 cemeteries found in Mission Hills, Los Angeles County, California, USA. Ritchie Valens, original name Richard Stephen Valenzuela, (born May 13, 1941, Pacoima, California, U.S.died February 3, 1959, near Clear Lake, Iowa), American singer and songwriter and the first Latino rock and roll star. Google provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. Three bodies are visible. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Notable songs include "La Bamba" and "Donna.". former Buddy Holly Online web site. The teenager with the short but storied career in the late 1950s is known internationally and throughout history as Ritchie Valens, but that is not the performer's real name. Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager. She loves spending quality time with her friends, family, and puppy Luna! Even though Lou Diamond Phillips played Esai Morales' younger brother in . cemeteries found in Mission Hills, Los Angeles County, California, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. A system error has occurred. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. "Man on the Moon" tells the story of Andy Kauffman and alludes to many of his famous stunts: wrestling Jerry Lawler and impersonating Elvis Presley. Ritchie had told Donna that he was One seat automatically went to Buddy Holly because he hired the plane service. Ritchie Valens was born in 1941 and skyrocketed to stardom at an incredibly young age. Ritchie was living with his moms sister in Panorama City because of school district boundaries, Munson recalls. Born in Sabine Pass, Texas, his father worked as a driller in the oil fields. The Valenzuelas approved of the project, and filmmakers thanked them by casting several family members in small roles. At the time of the crash, nearly 220 boys were wrapping up their outdoor athletic activities. Donna and her father had a falling out after he pushed Donna to record "Lost Without You" and "Now That You're Gone" as a way to potentially capitalize off of Ritchie death, and Donna never forgave him for that. There was a problem getting your location. "I still remember the first time we heard Ritchie sing on the radio," the mother of the late Latino rock 'n' roller Ritchie Valens recalled . If you find that some photos violates copyright or have unacceptable properties, please inform us about it. All Rights Reserved. Twin Cities funeral director Marvin D. McKee, who in 1959 prepared the bodies of famed rockers Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens after they were killed in an airplane crash in Iowa, died on March 17 . You can always change this later in your Account settings. A retired firefighter and water plant operator, Munson has lived out here since the mid-1970s. La Bamba: Directed by Luis Valdez. Your IP: Richard Steven Valenzuela, mais conhecido como Ritchie Valens ( Los Angeles, 13 de maio de 1941 Clear Lake, 3 de fevereiro de 1959) foi um msico, compositor e guitarrista norte-americano, descendente de mexicanos, nascido em Pacoima (Vale de So Fernando), no subrbio de Los Angeles, Califrnia . to earth. Cola was the favorite soft drink of the Valens family's son, Ritchie. Ritchie Valens passed away on February 3, 1959 at 17 years old. See more ideas about post mortem, post mortem photography, celebrity deaths. Her response? Family members linked to this person will appear here. Who knows? After Chicano musician and actor Danny Valdez released his debut album in 1973, A&M Records executives inquired about his next move, which prompted a discussion with his manager, budding filmmaker Taylor Hackford, about making and starring in a movie about Ritchie Valens. "He was in the backseat strumming his guitar," Keane told NPR. Ritchie was my first true Bob had a learners permit to drive. "If we hadn't gone to my grandfather's funeral, Ritchie would have been out there, in the playground," the singer's brother, Bob Valenzuela, said in a retrospective about the film La Bamba. At Ritchies aunts house one night, the pair went into the garage at Bobs instigation, climbed into the uncles Packard, which had the keys inside, and took a joyride down the alley before returning the car. He was born in Dawson, Georgia, approximately 100 miles south of Macon, on Sept. 9, 1941. I loved my mother and sister and brother." He didn't tell me he was going to record it.". Buddys lensless frames, dice, watch band, watch and watch back plate that possibly belonged to the Big Bopper, and a Zippo lighter in Mason City, Iowa. On that plane, touring musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson ("The Big Bopper") lost their lives, in addition to the aircraft's pilot, Roger Peterson. Ritchie was there," he told Behind the Music. The California Institute of Abnormalarts is a nightclub and sideshow museum located in North Hollywood, California. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. in the movie la bamba, what song is played after richies mother finds out he died. She is passionate about Princess Diana, the Titanic, the Romanovs, and Egypt amongst other things. A portion of the DC-7Bs wing was sheared off, but the plane remained airborne for a few minutes. Copyright 2023 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. Ritchie Valens was one of rock n' roll's earliest and most promising stars. In her spare time, Maddy loves playing volleyball, running, walking, and biking, although when she wants to be lazy she loves to read a good thriller. You may not upload any more photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 20 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 5 photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 30 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 15 photos to this memorial. The song also appears at the beginning of the film in the initial dream sequence up to the point where the two planes collide over the playground. "I was attracted to him because he was such a nice man, erI mean, because he was a nice boy. He is best known for his hits "La Bamba" and "Donna.". Her girlfriends went crazy when He just had a horrible fear of small planes, and planes in general. The death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper in an Iowa cornfield became known as "The Day the Music Died" after the 1971 Don McLean . During the ill-fated Midwest tour, the drummer developed frostbite, so Valens, Holly and a third musician divided the drumming duties. You most likely recognize his iconic hit, "La Bamba," which came out in 1958, when Ritchie was only 17. This is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. In 1989, Beaumont, Texas, near The Big Bopper's hometown of Sabine Pass, unveiled a statue of its local lost figure along with one of the Bopper, Holly, and Valens together. Valens was only 17 years old. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. Richardson was coming down with the flu and convinced Holly's bass player, Waylon Jennings, to trade transportation with him. Email dallen@scng.com, phone 909-483-9339, visit insidesocal.com/davidallen, like davidallencolumnist on Facebook and follow @davidallen909 on Twitter. Pilot Roger Peterson and Holly occupied two of the aircraft's four seats, and the other two were intended for Holly's backing musicians Waylon Jennings and Tommy Allsup. Rock and roll star Ritchie Valens was only 17 when he died in a plane crash, alongside Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper, on a cold early . Resend Activation Email. The musicians all loaded onto single buses which often broke down one drummer was taken out of action by severe frostbite with no roadies; they all packed and unpacked their own equipment. In 1990, he posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in 2001, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He got another chance at a Valens movie in the 80s, after the success of his film Zoot Suit, which sent him on a half-decade quest of researching Valens and slowly securing permission from the late musician's family. The event is depicted in the film La Bamba, the 1987 biopic of rock 'n' roll figure Ritchie Valens, who was a 15-year-old student at Pacoima Junior High School at the time of the disaster. It was all friendly stuff, Munson says. cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Everyone was quickly exhausted. 0:57. Here's a look into the tragically brief life of Ritchie Valens. But then, he didn't have much time with which to rack up a string of hits he released his first recordings in 1958 and died in early 1959. Search photo: You are interested in: Photos of ritchie valens casket. When he entered high school he was already an accomplished musician and played often at school assemblies and after school parties. Bob Keane, the a Del-Fi record label exec, discovered him and had Ritchie's change his last name to make it more "radio friendly" (aka, whitewash his identity but that's a different story). Phillips remembered. Ritchie's 18th Birthday . One of them was the rollicking, hard-charging folk/rock fusion tune "La Bamba," sung completely in Spanish." This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. Mara Elena Holly (ne Santiago; born December 20, 1932) is the widow of American rock and roll pioneer Buddy Holly. Be warned! You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. According to The Post, Donna "regularly sneaked out of her bedroom window to meet Valens at San Fernando hangouts like the Rainbow Roller Rink or Bob's Big Boy." The plane is said to have cartwheeled 540 feet before coming to rest against the fence. The biopic, released in 1987, tells the story of singer Ritchie Valens who died in a small plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 1959, alongside Buddy Holly and J.P. "The Big Bopper . He tried to go to the funeral that Saturday at St. Ferdinands but couldnt find parking due to the overflow crowd of more than 1,000. On the first anniversary of Ritchie's death, Ritchie's mother wanted to honor his memory. He sang her the first part of "Donna" and, Donna told ABC during a special, "of course I cried. Holly, Richardson, and Valens were thrown from the wreckage; Peterson was found entangled in what was left of the plane. The body of Jiles P. Richardson was clothed in a red checked flannel shirt and light blue cotton pants. More from us:The Tragic Death of Carole Lombard. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. (Here are selected photos on this topic, but full relevance is not guaranteed.) Ritchie Valens was a rock and roll singer who died in a plane crash on February 3, 1959. On January 31, 1957, a Douglas DC-7B took off from Santa Monica Airport at 10:15 a.m. on its first test flight. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. This is grassroots, where he started: the Packard, ditching school, the girls, Munson says with a laugh. I was a kid. I didnt know that.. After the graduation ceremony, Bob's mother . Valens, of course, was the pioneering Chicano rocker who managed to write and record La Bamba, Come On, Lets Go and Donna as a high school sophomore during a career that lasted only eight months. Where was Ritchie Valens flying to when he died? Year should not be greater than current year. Valens offered to flip a coin for a plane seat with another member of Holly's band, Tommy Allsup. The emotional gravity of the situation led to an emotional breakdown. In the original script, Ritchie's older brother Bob was the lead of the film. However, J.P. Richardson wasnt feeling well and convinced Waylon Jennings to give up his seat on the plane. Only when they arrived at the crash site did they realize it was Ritchies school. According to the Los Angeles Times, a family friend named Dickie Cota taught young Valens the guitar notes as well as the lyrics in Spanish, a language in which Valens was not fluent. writing a song for her. All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. Morales, brother of 1950s rock star Ritchie Valens, should have had his picture in the dictionary under "nice guy.'' The author with Bob Morales | Photo by Susan McLean By Lane Wallace The Bob Morales who was portrayed as a tough guy in the 1987 movie "La Bamba" and the man I knew for the last three decades were the same person in body only. Javascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. My grandfathers death saved Ritchies life., American rock n roll singer Ritchie Valens in concert, 1950s. Holly, Valens, and Richardson were memorialized by legendary singer-songwriter Don McLean approximately 12 years after the crash. Learn about how to make the most of a memorial. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. He was 16 when he started performing professionally and recording. Photo taken backstage with Donna and the family At the dedication of Ritchie Valens Park in Pacoima in the 1990s, Munson brought his photos to show Valens' sisters, whom he hadn't seen in nearly 40 years. Valens was not at school that day because he was attending the funeral of his grandfather. Eddie Velez drove all night from Salt Lake City two nights ago to get a glimpse . truly good guy; kind and polite. This browser does not support getting your location. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. (photosinhouse16@gmail.com) "The Big Bopper" is visible behind the fence. Valens attended school at Pacoima Junior High School near Los Angeles, which sat under a flight path. In 2010, Santiago-Holly co-founded, with Peter Bradley, "The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation", also known as TBHEF. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. The plane took off shortly after midnight in a light snow and crashed into a pasture about five miles from the airport. Best remembered for his hit song Chantilly Lace (1958), he was killed in the same plane crash that also killed early rock-n-roll icons Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens in an event that became known as The Day The Music Died. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. 9. She received her Bachelors of Arts in history and her Masters of Arts degree in history both from the University of Western Ontario in Canada. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Singer Ritchie Valens (who was still known as Richard Valenzuela) was a 15-year-old student at Pacoima Junior High School in 1957 when the Pacoima mid-air collision occurred. Ritchie Valens was born in 1941 and skyrocketed to stardom at an incredibly young age. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. The pilots body remained buckled into the planes wreckage. His parents were of Mexican origin and Valens grew up listening to traditional Mexican music. "Going back to school after he died was so hard. At the age of eleven he started playing guitar and took it with him everywhere. "Man on the Moon" is the only tribute song R.E.M. Copyright 2023 Distractify. spoke often about his family. nothing is too difficult. Tragically, Jennings joke became reality when the small, single-engined Beechcraft 35 Bonanza went down just outside Clear Lake, Iowa. Munson is 79, the same age Valens would be today. Valdez then attempted to do the project as a stage musical, but that fell apart. 1 on the Billboard pop chart. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. He didn't have the chance to record all that much music, but what he did make would cement his status as an American musical legend. Richard Steven Valenzuela was born May 13, 1941 in Pacoima, California, says Biography. Days later, a student named Evan Elsner (12) died from his injuries. You had to be tough, Munson says of that high school. According to The Washington Post, the film took a few creative liberties, particularly in regards to Valens' romantic life. 22 on Feb. 1, 1959, two days before Valens died. Performance & security by Cloudflare. In the film, Valens (portrayed by Lou Diamond Phillips) is head over heels in love with girlfriend Donna Ludwig (Danielle Von Zerneck), and he records the moony love song "Donna" in her honor. and she taught me how to cook Ritchies favorite foods: tamales, It's an example of a son, a proto-mariachi form of musical storytelling that combines many traditional styles. With Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, Elizabeth Pea. In the backseat, a girl named Nancy who had dated Ritchie began crying. Did Ritchie Valens drink? The Ritchie Valens family would like to acknowledge Alan Clark He played the record again. This is the crash site. Pacoima, Los Angeles County, California, USA, Clear Lake, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, USA. No one who died in the 1959 plane crash, that day the music died, was an old man. Around the United States, several monuments and memorials dedicated to the late rock star have been erected. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Ritchie Valens I found on Findagrave.com. (Photo Credit: Archive Photos/ Getty Images). To. As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. 1:04. All the same, it took Hollywood more than a decade to get on board with the project. Ritchie was a With not much public information on Ritchie Valens available between his pop chart ascent in 1958 and death in 1959, much of the collective knowledge on the late rock star comes from the 1987 biopic La Bamba. "Man on the Moon" by R.E.M. Buddy Holly was 22; J.P. Richardson, "The Big Bopper," was the old man on the plane, at 28. The Plane Crash That Claimed Three Rock Legends. She heard the song for the first time on her Days later, I was in Munsons kitchen in the Murrieta Hot Springs neighborhood of Murrieta, looking at snapshots. As the airplane fell out of the sky, it rained debris onto the Pacoima neighborhood below. She owns the rights to his name, image, trademarks, and other intellectual property. After a February 2 show in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly, sick with the flu,chartered a small plane for a quick and more comfortable trip to Fargo, N.D., near the next concert site in Moorhead, Minn. The biggest hit at the time was "Donna," along with "Come On, Let's Go," but he's perhaps remembered most today for "La Bamba," based on a Mexican folk song, a driving combination of rock and Latin rhythm. I cried all the time and everyone pointed their finger at me. Lozano, sister of Ritchies aunt Ernestine; Ritchies mother Connie, Time Life. Ritchie Valens was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. WATSONVILLE, Calif. . So, he decided to hire a plane from a local flying service that would take the crew to Moorhead, Minnesota, after their performance in Clear Lake. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, . "For me and for the family and in a very weird way and in a very sort of existential way, it was Ritchie all over again. There is a problem with your email/password. July 19, 1987 12 AM PT. According to The Washington Post, a heartbroken Valens put the song together in 1957 and sang it to the then 15-year-old Ludwig on the phone, shortly after they'd ended their romantic relationship. In 1987, a biographical movie of his life and times entitled 'La Bamba' was released, both the film and soundtrack became a worldwide smash hit with Los Lobos covering his songs on the soundtrack. Pgina oficial. Another photo has Ritchie standing next to a car at the Munson curb. A pop music titan while still just a teenager, he emerged in 1958 as a talent to be reckoned with, combining a voice that was at turns soulful and peppy with a preternatural talent for playing the guitar with precision and speed. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. He didn't get drunk." Offers may be subject to change without notice. At a January 1958 'rent party' held in an American Legion Hall, the band was taped by a part time talent scout who worked for Bob Keane, the owner of Keen Records. At around 11:18 a.m., one fighter jet made a wide turn above the San Fernando Valley. You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. This photo is taken after Ritchies death The remaining photos - also in color and fairly graphic - were available online. Donna was a great comfort to Ritchies mom and sisters after The film opens with the Valenzuela family, a group of Mexican . my family by showing me that with the love and support of family Yepcats. By early 1959, Valens had shown off his skills with three highly varied singles the ultra-catchy and breezy "Come On, Let's Go," the restrained torch ballad "Donna," and "La Bamba," a shredding, blistering take on an old folk song the Mexican-American musician learned in childhood that became one of the first and biggest songs not performed in English to hit big in the United States. After learning to play several instruments as a child, according to AllMusic, Valens fell in love with playing the guitar most of all, and he mastered a standard model built for a right-handed player, even though he was left-handed. Clash: Let's start with a life-changing event. Sadly, Valens is also one of music's biggest "what could have been" stories he died at age 17 while still a rising success. We got to talking and he just slipped in.. With every paper, I'd . "And then I heard this melody, this 'Dadadada da da da,' and I said, 'Boy, that'd make a great rock record, I think.'". Ritchie and Donna dated in high school, and their romance was portrayed in the 1987 biopic La Bamba. Absorbing the wild stylings of early rock n' roll, including rockabilly artists and Little Richard, along with traditional and folk forms he gleaned from his Mexican-American family, he synthesized his influences and landed a position as the guitarist in a local garage rock band called the Silhouettes. He explains dryly: It was junior high, we were all wired up.. Distractify is a registered trademark. During lunchtime at school he would sit on the bleachers and practice or entertain his friends with his music. Donna Fox, the subject of Ritchies hit song Donna, recalled that Ritchie would have nightmares about that [flying]. Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? There was no jacket or overcoat on the body. Jun 10, 2017 - Explore Gary Fahr's board "Post Mortem Celebrities" on Pinterest. That was a rough day, Munson says. On the first anniversary of Ritchies death, Ritchies mother 2 about three weeks after he passed away. The two F-89 jets were engaged in a routine scissor interception. One plane would serve as a target to test their radar equipment, and then they would switch, and the other plane would do the same. He thinks he took all the photos except for the one at graduation, which his mother shot. He was a sweet guy. Richardson had a cold and talked Jennings into letting him take the flight instead of sitting through a miserable, freezing bus ride, while Allsup lost his seat to Valens he won the coin toss. He went to Philadelphia to appear on Dick . The tragic deaths of these three fifties Rock n Roll stars was immortalised in Don McLean's classic hit American Pie. Ritchie Valens was just 17 years old when he changed the course of pop music in the late 1950s. The Music Legend's Love Life Was Complicated, Natalie Wood Remarried the Same Man Twice Get to Know Her Marital History, Olivia DeJonge Will Play Priscilla Presley in an Upcoming Elvis Biopic. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . Click to reveal Valens grew up in suburban Los Angeles in a . To hear from someone in Riverside County who had known Valens was a kick. Peter Peter95. Are you sure that you want to remove this flower? Oops, we were unable to send the email. menudo and enchiladas. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 - February 3, 1959), known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Mary Gerber of Walters reminisced about the night she used her little Kodak camera to take photographs of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and other performers at the 1959 Winter Dance Party show in . This is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Rock Singer. August 28, 2018. Valens went to 'Pacoima Junior High School' and music was his passion from an . Was Little Richard Ever Married? It was released in only a few months before the accident, and it was a huge success. The audition went very well and shortly afterward Ritchie Valen's first single 'Come On, Let's Go' was released in the summer of 1958. He was a pioneer of Rock' n' Roll and well known as the founding father of the Chicano rock movement. The third crash victim was Ritchie Valens, born Richard Valenzuela in a suburb of Los Angeles, who was only 17 when the plane went down but had already scored hits with "Come On, Let's Go . G Pollen. played it again. Munson remembers a day in summer 1958 when Ritchie phoned and asked him to invite a bunch of their friends over to Bobs bedroom to hear his first record. Whatever the reason, the plane crashed in a field about five miles from the airport it appeared that the plane's right wing tip caught the ground and the aircraft cartwheeled. purchased just a few months earlier. My mom loved him. Failed to remove flower. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. He was strong.. Closest to us is said to be Richie Valens, and then Holly to the left, and in the field beyond, the Big Bopper. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Childhood pal recalls Ritchie Valens as sweet, tough from California home, William backed Harry and Meghans eviction, prefers brother never set foot in England again, Torture porn: Lily-Rose Depp filmed scenes of extreme sexual violence for new HBO show, report says, Pop stars snub King Charles coronation: I dont know what there is to gain by associating with him, Salesforce pays Matthew McConaughey $10 million a year as it lays off thousands, Harry, Meghan asked to vacate Frogmore, their UK home. We have set your language to The record took off, and after that, Ritchie was gone all the time, Munson says. Born and raised in California's San Fernando Valley by Mexican-American parents, his birth name was Ricardo Esteban Valenzuela Reyes. In the dark, early hours of 3 February 1959, a small nondescript plane, battered by wind and snow, crashed to earth in an isolated field in Iowa. He didn't swear. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens' recording career lasted only eight months. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. Ritchie Valens (born Richard Steven Valenzuela; May 13, 1941 - February 3, 1959) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1363/ritchie-valens. Watsonville, CA. Thanks for your help! By 1957, Ritchie would bring his guitar out on the playground while his fellow students would gather around him and listen. The student population was a mix of White, Black and Brown, lunchtime fights were common and police were sometimes called to break them up. On February 3, 1959, a three-passenger plane went down less than six miles from the airport it had just departed. Pictured from left to right: Olga Jurado-Zubick, Ritchie's cousin; Gail Smith, Ritchie's classmate and president of the Ritchie Valens Memorial Fan Club; Paulina Lozano, sister of Ritchie's aunt Ernestine; Ritchie's mother Connie, better known a "Concha"; Donna . Buddy Holly-Big Bopper-Ritchie Valens Tribute. s City Auditorium for Redding's funeral, a week later. He just kind of fit in. He was very popular with the girls. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. Born Richard Steven Valenzuela and raised in a largely Hispanic community north of Los Angeles, California known as the San Fernando Valley (SFV), his father was a devotee of flamenco music and blues, instilling his love of music to Ritchie. during an interview. Ronnie Brann (13) and Robert Zallan (12) were struck by wreckage and killed immediately.