Ritchie Valens was a pioneering American rock and roll musician and singer of Mexican descent. Born in 1941, he rose to fame as a teenager in the late 1950s and became one of the first Latino artists to achieve mainstream success in the U.S. His music blended rock and roll with traditional Latin sounds, helping to shape the early rock era. Tragically, his career was cut short when he died in a plane crash at just 17 years old, an event later referred to as "The Day the Music Died." Despite his brief career, Valens left a lasting impact on music history.