Ritchie Valens One of the Ones That Got Away

Don McLean’s song “American Pie” was about the day the music died, February 3, 1959. This was the day Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens perished in a horrific late night plane crash outside Mason City, a few miles from their departure Clear Lake, IA.

Ritchie Valens was born Richard Valenzuela, the second child of four kids. His music practice paid off as he was offered a recording contract by Bob Keane, the owner of Del-Fi Records in May of 1958. His first hit “Come On, Let’s Go” proved to be a regional hit in the western part of the United States. Ritchie Valens was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

There were multiple movies made about Buddy Holly. In 1987, he was the subject of the successful movie “La Bamba” and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1990.


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