News & Updates — Richie Valens

The first popular Chicano rocker was Richard Valenzuela aka Richie Valens. Coming from LA, he was influenced by Little Richard, mariachi, jump blues, flamenco and rockabilly. Airplane disaster first effected him when in his schoolyard he witnessed two planes crashing into each other, killing several schoolmates. A fear of flying had to be overcome to maintain his gig schedule. He was a natural left-hander that played guitar right-handed. He started the rock-en-Español movement with his 1958 hit "La Bamba". His other big hits were "Donna" and "Come On, Let's Go" (his tunes were cut with musicians who would later be...