Ritchie Valens’ image, foreground, is featured with the other victims of the Feb. 3, 1959 plane crash in this mural, “The Day the Music Died,” by Levi Ponce in Valens’ hometown of Pacoima ...

Ritchie Valens was, of course, a very big deal to kids in Pacoima and San Fernando and in the Mexican-American neighborhoods across the city. "He was not only the first rock music star of Mexican ...

At Musser's feet lay the bodies of rock 'n' roll stars Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, while J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson was on the other side of the fence. Pilot Roger Peterson was in the plane ...

On Feb. 3, 1959, three of its biggest stars — Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson, known as the Big Bopper — were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.

Clash: Let's start with a life-changing event. In 1959, a plane with The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens and Buddy Holly crashed while you all were on the Winter Dance Party tour, killing all three ...

Ritchie Valens died in a 1959 plane crash that also claimed the lives of Buddy Holly and J.P. Richardson. A remake of 'La Bamba' will retell his story. - Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images ...

Long after “the day the music died,” the timeless crooning of “Big Bopper” J.P. Richardson, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens has continued to sooth the souls of many. Although the calamitous ...