Covers of his greatest hit “La Bamba” still boom out at student club nights today but Ritchie Valens will always be known primarily as a 17-year-old fatality of a tragic plane crash on “the day the music died”, 3 February, 1959.

Now known as the father of the Spanish language rock and roll movement, he took a small plane with fellow stars Buddy Holly and JP "Big Bopper" Richardson during a Winter Dance Party tour of the Midwest .He was found dead, thrown twenty feet from the plane’s wreckage, just eight miles from where it took off.

At the time, the big, broad-shouldered teenager had just established himself as one of the most promising young pioneers of rock and roll. His first single “Donna”, a song based on a real life childhood sweetheart, just missed out on Number 1.

In a professional career lasting a mere eight months, it is difficult to assess his potential. But his modern adoption of the traditional “La Bamba” Spanish beat became his main legacy.

Richie Valens was born Richard Stephen Valenzuela in Pacoima, Los Angeles , on May 13, 1941. His parents split when he was three years old and he lived with his father, Steve, until 1951.

After his father’s death, he initially took up the guitar and trumpet and later taught himself the drums. A neighbour came across him playing a guitar with only two strings and restringing the instrument taught the young man the fingerings of some cords.

By the time he was attending Pacoima Junior High School , he was such a competent guitarist that he brought the instrument to school, playing songs for his friends. He joined a local garage band “The Silhouettes” as a guitarist and eventually assumed the role of lead singer as well.

But it was a Saturday morning matinee performance that made his career. Bob Keane, the president of local company Del-Fi Records, received a tip off about the performance and was impressed by it.

Mr Keane offered to become his manager and signed gave him a recording contract. On signing it on 27 May , 1958, the young star’s name was changed to Valens to make him appeal to a wider audience than Latino.

A five-strong session band played behind him at the Gold Star Studios in Hollywood . Later that year, their first "Come On, Let's Go", reached number 42 in the USA , selling 750,000 copies.

After an 11-city US tour, he returned to the studio to record his next single, “Donna”. But it was the number on the flipside of the record, “La Bamba”, sung entirety in Spanish and featuring some quick guitar work, that became his most remembered song.

There was just time to film a brief appearance in Alan Freed’s movie “Go Johnny Go” before setting off on the infamous Winter Dance Party tour. He successfully called “heads” on a tossed a coin with backup musician Tommy Allsup for a seat on the chartered flight, which ended in tragedy.

The date of the crash, 3 February, 1959, was dubbed “The Day The Music Died” in Don McLean’s popular ballad “American Pie”.

Other than his dramatic final fate, Ritchie Valens is considered as a pioneer of Chicano rock, inspiring the likes of the Blazers, Chris Montez and Carlos Santa.

Like Buddy Holly, Valens’ legacy grew after his death. A dramatisation of his brief life was featured in the 1987 film “La Bamba”, the soundtrack of which hit Number 1.

Despite a career spanning just a few months, he is still considered the greatest ever Latino rock and roll artist, and the only one to be honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.