YEAR
2001
INDUCTED BY
Ricky Martin
CATEGORY
Performers
The whiz kid behind the ultimate teen love anthem and the inexplicably catchy “La Bamba.”
Although his life was tragically cut short, Ritchie Valens’ inimitable blend of Mexican dance music and rock has influenced generations of rockers.
Ritchie Valens
Ricky Martin Inducts Ritchie Valens
Family of Ritchie Valens acceptance speech
"La Bamba"
HALL OF FAME
ESSAY
By Lenny Kaye
In December 1958, Ritchie Valens paid a visit to his alma mater, Pacoima Junior High School, in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California.
Not much older than the assembled students (he had turned seventeen the previous May 13), he performed an assortment of its, his own and others’, including his latest single, the double-sided “Donna”/ “La Bamba,” which would climb into the Top Five by the following February.
More from the class of 2001
