Don McLean wrote the song American Pie in 1971 and it was famously about the Day The Music Died in 1959, when a small plane crashed with Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens.
Holly was just 22. The Big Bopper, aka JP Richardson, was 28. But Valens, a major rising star just beginning to explore his talent and nowhere near understanding his potential cultural impact, was just 17.
Because of concerns that an Hispanic name wouldn’t sell many records, Valens cut his full name - Valenzuela - to just the first two syllable.
As it turned out, he did sell and left some enduring classics, notably La Bamba, a rocked up version of a traditional Mexican folk song.