"La Bamba" is a Mexican folk song, originally from the state of Veracruz, Mexico. It is best known from a 1958 adaptation by Ritchie Valens, a top 40 hit in the U.S. charts and one of early rock and roll's best-known songs. Valens' version of "La Bamba" is ranked number 345 on Rolling Stone magazine′s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and is the only song on the list not sung in English. 

Valens was a pioneer of Chicano rock, Latin rock and was an inspiration to many musicians of Latino heritage. He influenced the likes of Los Lobos, Los Lonely Boys and Carlos Santana among countless others at a time when there were very few Latinos in American rock and pop music. He is considered the first Latino ever to successfully cross over into rock mainstream.

"La Bamba" would prove to be his most influential recording; not only by becoming a pop chart hit sung entirely in Spanish but also because of its successful blending of traditional Latin American music with rock. He was a pioneer and was an inspiration for many after his death. Valens was the first to capitalize on this formula which would later be adopted by such varied artists  as Selena, Caifanes, Café Tacuba, Circo, El Gran Silencio, Aterciopelados, Gustavo Santaolalla and many others in the Latin Alternative scene. Ironically, the Valenzuela family spoke only English at home, and Ritchie knew very little Spanish. He learned the lyrics phonetically in order to  record "La Bamba" in Spanish, never realizing how big it would become.

"La Bamba" has been covered by numerous artists, most notably by Los Lobos, whose version was the title track of the 1987 film La Bamba and reached #1 in the U.S. and UK singles charts in the same year. The music video (below) for Los Lobos' version, directed by Sherman Halsey, won the 1988 MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film.

Lou Diamond Phillips played the part of Richie Valens in the film. Here is his version of the song, direct from the film soundtrack.

                STILL OTHER VERSIONS:

               THE GIPSY KINGS

Bud & Travis in Concert 1964

Ray Conniff Singers & Orchestra

TRINI LOPEZ & JOSE FELICIANO

             CHUBBY CHECKER

JAMES LAST AND HIS BIG BAND

La Bamba was strong enough to secure a steady future for Richie Valens. But that was not to be. On February 3, 1959, on what has become known as The Day the Music Died, Valens was killed in a small-plane crash in  Iowa, a tragedy that also claimed the lives of fellow musicians Buddy Holly and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson. Valens was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. View the video about the tragedy below: