Birth Name: Richard Steven Valenzuela
Date of Birth: May 13, 1941
Place of Birth: Pacoima, California, United States
Date of Death: February 3, 1959
Place of Death: Clear Lake, Iowa, United States
Ethnicity: Mexican (mixed African, Spanish, and Indigenous Mexican), Chilean
Ritchie Valens was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was known for being a rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement. He was the son of Joseph Steven Valenzuela and Beatrice (later Concepcion) Reyes.
Ritchie’s paternal grandparents were Marciano Valenzuela and Maria Agripina Ponce (the daughter of Luis Ponce and Maria Antonia “Sara” Lugo). Marciano was a Mexican immigrant. Luis was a Chilean immigrant. Sara’s ancestors were early Californian settlers from Mexico who were mulattos and mestizos.
Ritchie’s maternal grandparents were Francisco “Frank” Lopez Reyes (the son of Luis Reyes López and Josefa López Ocuna) and Refugia Lopez (the daughter of Refugio López and Eduviges Yáñez). All of Ritchie’s maternal great-grandparents moved from Mexico to Arizona.
Source: Genealogy of Ritchie Valens – http://www.geni.com