Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens & Big Bopper Exhibit Launches at Final Venue From the Night They Died originally appeared on ...

From Slash’s guitar to Buddy Holly’s final tour relics, Surf Ballroom’s “Not Fade Away” immerses visitors in the stories that ...

That’s Ritchie Valens; he deserves that credit. Though he died in a plane crash at 17, Ritchie Valens changed rock 'n' roll and Latin music forever.

Ritchie Valens was rescued from obscurity by a 1987 movie, “La Bamba,” that finally put the Southern California teen’s story ahead of Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper, the two older singers ...

Ritchie Valens, the groundbreaking singer-guitarist from Pacoima who inspired subsequent generations of Chicano rockeros, would be celebrating his 76th birthday on Saturday, May 13, if not for ...

Ritchie Valens Recreation Center Senior Recreation Director Christina Conyers in front of the Ritchie Valens memorabilia wall, April 10. (SFVS/el Sol Photo/Semantha Raquel Norris) ...

There had not been a Mexican American rock star, but Ritchie Valens became an immediate sensation. His single, “Come On, Let’s Go,” rose on the national charts.

Books about Valens, though, have been scarce. The only biography was 1987’s “Ritchie Valens, the First Latino Rocker” by Beverly Mendheim, who struggled to turn her research into a narrative.