Ritchie Valens

That memorial was unveiled on July 17, 2003. In 2003 Whitesnake regrouped for a 25-year celebration tour. He also created a similar stainless steel monument to the three musicians near the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Since then Whitesnake has only released an unplugged Japan show Starkers In Tokyo. It is located on private farmland, about one quarter mile west of the intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue, approximately eight miles north of Clear Lake. In that year, an album called Restless Heart was released, though not in the United States. In 1988, Ken Paquette, a Wisconsin fan of the 50s era, erected a stainless steel monument depicting a steel guitar and a set of three records bearing the names of each of the three performers. 1990 saw a Greatest Hits album, but other than that the band was dormant until 1997.

in Hollywood, California, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. The band was reformed again for Slip of the Tongue (1989), which featured Steve Vai; the record did not sell well in spite of that. Ritchie Valens has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6733 Hollywood Blvd. The following album, Whitesnake 1987, was another huge success, driven by the power ballad "Is This Love" and the hit single, "Here I Go Again". Ritchie Valens is interred in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California. After a major personnel shift, Whitesnake released 1984's Slide It In, a platinum album. This event inspired singer Don McLean's popular 1971 ballad American Pie, and immortalized February 3rd as The Day The Music Died. During the first years, their music was primarily blues-oriented hard rock. Members of the band include Jon Lord and Ian Paice of Deep Purple as well as Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody.

"The Big Bopper" Richardson, and pilot Roger Peterson. The band was formed by David Coverdale (of Deep Purple) and was originally popular only in Europe and Japan. The crash killed Valens, along with co-performers Buddy Holly, J.P. Whitesnake was a British heavy metal band, active primarily in the 1980s. In the early morning following a February 2nd performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, a small four-passenger Beechcraft Bonanza took off into a blinding snow storm and crashed into Albert Juhl's corn field several miles after takeoff at 1:05 a.m. Into The Light (2001) (Coverdale Solo). In early 1959, Valens was traveling the midwest on a multi-act rock and roll tour. Starkers In Tokyo (1997).

Valens was a pioneer of hispanic rock and influenced the likes of Chris Montez and Carlos Santana. Restless Heart (1997). Valens' hits included "Donna" and "La Bamba"; the latter became the title of a 1987 movie about his life, which introduced Lou Diamond Phillips as Ritchie and co-starred Esai Morales as his older half-brother Bob Morales. Coverdale/Page (1993) (Coverdale with Jimmy Page). Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 - February 3, 1959), better known as Ritchie Valens, was a pioneer of rock and roll and, as a Mexican-American, became the first Hispanic rock and roll star. Slip Of The Tongue (1989). La Bamba - Internet Movie Database (IMDb) (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0093378/). Whitesnake 1987 (1987).

Download sample of "La Bamba". Slide It In (1984). Saints n' Sinners (1983). Come an Get It (1982). Live...In The Heart Of The City (1981).

Ready And Willing (1980). Lovehunter (1979). Trouble (1978). Snakebite (1978).

Northwinds (1977) (Coverdale Solo). David Coverdale's Whitesnake (1976) (Coverdale Solo).