Richie Valens and the song he wrote for his high school sweetheart

[Citizen X]

Richie Valens died at the tender age of 18! His music career lasted for a mere 8 months. The final song he released was written about his real high school sweetheart ‘Donna Ludwig.’
This has particular appeal to me because it was not just any song, it was conceived with someone in mind.

“I had a girl Donna was her name Since she left me I've never been the same 'Cause I love my girl Donna, where can you be? Where can you be?
Now that you're gone I'm left all alone, All by myself to wander and roam, 'Cause I love my girl Donna, where can you be? Where can you be?
Oh, well darlin', now that you're gone I don't know, what I'll do all those times, and all my love for you
I had a girl Donna was her name Since she left me I've never been the same 'Cause I love my girl Donna, where can you be? Where can you be?”

[Dave A]

Cause of death - a broken heart perhaps?

[Norri]

Dude, didn't you watch the movie? :P He died in an air crash! He never wanted to fly, he was scared of dying in an airplane er... emergency speed landing And when he was finally coerced to get on a plane, well, you guessed it, he pegged.

That movie (and, of course, the true life story of Richie Valens) had a serious impact on me as a kid. For one, I was sh%t-scared of flying till one day I finally boarded a plane when I was 18 - certain it was going to come crashing down, just because I had boarded it. I'm glad to report that it stayed up and this is not my ghost typing :P

But, ja, his whole story, from him buying his mom a house, to dying in an airplane crash, really "got" to me as a kid. I'm just sharing that because it can be so weird what affects you as a kid.

[Nickolai Naydenov]

Awesome movie, great songs, sad ending. That's why I believe we should be happy that we are alive and healthy and be thankful for everything we'be got.

[Dave A]

Dude, didn't you watch the movie? :P

No

Maybe

emergency speed landing

Me feel better now

[Blurock]

Maybe La Bamba will bring back memories. I agree; great movie and "Donna" was a haunting song. Sad that such talent had to go so soon.

Other stars that were killed in plane crashes:

Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper was killed in the same plane crash in 1959.

1963: Patsy Cline (30) was killed in a plane crash.

1967: Soul singer Otis Redding (26), and four members of his Bar-Kays band were killed when their Beechcraft H18 plane crashed in icy Lake Monoma near Madison, Wisconsin.

The Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash in 1977 killed lead singer and song writer Ronnie VanZant, guitarist Steve Gaines, vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick.

In 1973, Rock singer Jim Croce (30), members of his company died when their chartered Beechcraft E18S crashed while taking off from the Natchitoches, Louisiana airport.

1985: Rock & roll singer Ricky Nelson (45), five members of his Stone Canyon band, and his fiancée, were all killed when a fire broke out on board a DC-3 taking them to a New Year’s Eve performance in Dallas, Texas.

March 19, 1982: Randy Rhoads (25), the lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne, died when the Beech Bonanza F35 he was aboard crashed into a house after a wing clipped Ozzy Osbourne’s tour bus. All 3 aboard were killed as a result of the pilot attempting to ‘buzz’ the bus.

1997, Singer John Denver (53) died when his experimental single-engine plane crashed near Monterey, California.

August 27, 1990: Blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan (35) was killed in a helicopter crash near East Troy, Wisconsin.

Then there is the 27 club; Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse all died at age 27.

"The life of a musician is a treacherous one. Many die from substance abuse, gunfire or even angry fans, whilst many, though seemingly a lot fewer, die of plain old age."

[Citizen X]

Very informative Blurock!
"Then there is the 27 club; Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse all died at age 27"