Happy Birthday to The La Bamba Kid. Richard Valenzuela aka Richie Valens was born #OnThisDay in 1941 and died in a plane crash.
Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), better known by his stage name Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens died in a plane crash just eight months after his breakthrough.
Valens had several hits, most notably "La Bamba", which he had adapted from a Mexican folk song. Valens transformed the song into one with a rock rhythm and beat, and it became a hit in 1958, making Valens a pioneer of the Spanish-speaking rock and roll movement.
The Mexican American singer and songwriter was a pioneer of Chicano rock who inspired many Latino musicians like yours truly.
Valens is considered the first Latino to cross over into mainstream rock successfully. His 1958 adaptation of "La Bamba," a Mexican folk song, became a hit in U.S. charts and one of early rock and roll's best-known songs.
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El cantante y compositor mexicano-estadounidense fue un pionero del rock Chicano y Latino e inspiró a muchos músicos de origen Mexicano.
Valens es considerado el primer Latino en encontrar con éxito su camino en la música comercial. Su adaptación de "La Bamba" (1958), una canción popular mexicana, se convirtió en un éxito en las listas de Estados Unidos y una de las primeras canciones más conocidas del rock and roll.
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