Concepcion Valenzuela; Singer Richie Valens’ Mother

Concepcion Valenzuela, 72, mother of the late rock ‘n’ roll star Richie Valens. Valens, who died in 1959 at age 17 in the same plane crash that killed singers Buddy Holly and J. P. (Big Bopper) Richardson, is the subject of the current hit movie “La Bamba.” In Watsonville, Calif., on Sunday of what was described only as a long illness.