Celebrity Graveland

May 13, 1941 – February 03, 1959

Three hits, a coin flip and a day that changed American music forever. That’s the bitter legacy of Richard Steven Valenzuela.

Better known by his stage name, Ritchie Valens, the young rock and roll pioneer gained popularity playing theaters in his native San Fernando valley in California. He was discovered in the spring of 1958 and signed to a record deal while still in high school. His first day in the studio, he recorded “Come On, Let’s Go.” The single immediately sold well and within months, Valens had recorded a new single called “Donna”, based on his real-life girlfriend at the time. “Donna” was released with a B-Side recording of his take on the Mexican folk song, “La Bamba”. The record sold a million copies and high school was no longer needed.

Valens hit the road to support his hits and by October of that year, was appearing on national television programs like American Bandstand and at fabled venues like the Apollo Theatre in New York. In January of 1959, Valens was tapped to co-headline the Winter Dance Party tour with Buddy Holly, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson and Dion and the Belmonts. For someone not even a year into his career, this should have been a substantial success story.

Of course, the ill-fated tour famously ran into issue after issue even before its sudden and earth-shattering end. Valens spent most of the tour fighting illness due to the unsuitable bus conditions and the freezing temperatures. After the show on February 2 in Clear Lake, Iowa, Valens flipped a coin with Holly’s guitarist, Tommy Allsup, for a spot on the plane that Holly had chartered to avoid having to endure another night on the freezing bus. Valens won the toss and, of course, the rest is tragic history.

Only 17 at the time of the crash, Ritchie Valens’ untimely and infamous death cemented his place in rock and roll history. Songs have been written about him. Movies have been made about him. A tragedy of such monumental proportions is about the only thing that can turn a 9 month career into a legacy that endures decades later. He directly influenced the rise of other Chicano and Latino artists like Carlos Santana, Los Lobos and Selena.

“La Bamba” itself also took on an iconic life of its own. Groundbreaking for its time, the song – entirely sung in Spanish – has been covered by dozens of artists. In 2019, some 60 years after Valens’ death, the recording was preserved in the U.S. Library of Congress registry for its cultural, historical and sonic impact.

Burial

San Fernando Mission Cemetery – San Fernando, CA

Specific Location

Section C, Lot 248, Grave 3; 3 rows into this section from the curb marker “247”. Ritchie was buried in his native San Fernando valley by his mother. She would be laid to rest next to him years later.

This entry was posted on September 21, 2026 at 8:47 am and is filed under San Fernando Mission Cemetery with tags Day the Music Died, Musicians, San Fernando Mission Cemetery, Singers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.