A romantic biography of the late 1950s pop idol Ritchie Valens, concentrating on his stormy relationship with his half-brother Bob (Morales), his love for his WASP girlfriend Donna (Von Zerneck) for whom he wrote a hit song, and his tragic, sudden death in the famed plane crash that also took the lives of Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper. Soundtrack features Setzer, Huntsberry, Crenshaw, and Los Lobos as, respectively, Eddie Cochran, the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, and a Mexican bordello band.