Creeping Irrelevance

book cover - The G-String Murders - 1954

Obit of the Day (Historical): Ritchie Valens (1959)

Ritchie Valens had three top 50 hits when he died in a plane crash on February 3, 1959. He was only 17 years old. Valens ended up on the plane after winning a coin toss.

Valens, whose full name was Valenzuela, hit #42 with his 1958 single “Come on Let’s Go.” Later that same he reached #6 with the ballad, “Donna” which was written about his girlfriend Donna Ludwig. The “B” side of that single was “La Bamba’ a traditional Mexican folk song that he arranged into a rock hit - it would hit #22 in the U.S.

“La Bamba” inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

Along with Valens, rock stars Buddy Holly and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson also died. The incident is now called “The Day the Music Died.” (You can read Obit of the Day’s full post on the tragedy here.) 

(“La Bamba” is copyright Ling Music Group, 2009)

Also today:

Buddy Holly