Ritchie Valens was an immediate sensation: "Come On, Let's Go," his first single, soared on the national pop charts. Ritchie began composing his next hit record during a telephone call with Donna ...

* Richard Valenzuela was born May 13, 1941 and grew up in Pacoima, Calif. He would later use the name Ritchie Valens. * He joined a local band, the Silhouettes, at age 16 and he soon became a star on ...

This essay is adapted from Merrick Morton’s “La Bamba: A Visual History,” published by Hat & Beard Press. “Dance!! Dance!! Dance!! to the music of the Silhouettes Band!!” read the handbill. The ...

Almost 40 years after its release, “La Bamba,” the beloved biopic of singer Ritchie Valens, is getting a remake. And Luis Valdez, the original director and writer, wants people to know: "This was not ...

A remake of 1987’s La Bamba is in the works. Directed and written by Luis Valdez, La Bamba is a 1987 film that follows the life of musician Ritchie Valens. Lou Diamond Phillips played Valens in the ...

Ritchie Valens was just 17 years old when he changed the course of pop music in the late 1950s. As the first Mexican-American hitmaker in the U.S., he laid the groundwork for Chicano rock and beyond, ...