Richard Steven Valenzuela born on May 13, 1941 was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement.
In 1958 "The Little Richard of San Fernando" was seen by Bob Keane, the owner of small record label Del-Fi Records in Hollywood at a movie theater in San Fernando. Impressed by the performance, he invited Richard to his small recording studio in his basement. After the first audition the musician took the name "Ritchie" to become unique and shortened his surname to "Valens" in order to widen his appeal beyond any obvious ethnic group.
After several songwiriting and demo recording sessions Ritchie entered the studio with a full band. The first songs recorded at Gold Star Studios were "Come on, Let's Go" and "Framed". In the autumn of 1958, Valens quit high school to concentrate on his great career.
Ritchie had a fear of flying due to a freak accident where several of his friends were injured and killed. He eventually overcame his fear for his career. After the February 2, 1959, performance in Clear Lake (which ended around midnight), Holly, Richardson and Valens flew in a small plane that Holly had chartered. Valens was on the plane because he won a coin toss with Buddy Holly's backup guitarist. Just after 1:00 AM on February 3, 1959, the plane crashed a few minutes after takeoff for reasons still unknown. As with Holly and Richardson, Valens suffered massive and unsurvivable head injuries along with blunt force trauma to the chest. At 17, Valens was the youngest to die in the crash. The day of his death was called "The Day the Music Died".
His recording career lasted only eight months. Can you imagine what would have happened if he had lived longer?
