The Big Bopper is currently owned by his daughter-in-law, Patty Richardson, and managed by C3 Entertainment, a company that specializes in classic brands. C3 Entertainment currently manages an official tribute band featuring a Big Bopper impersonator, touring with the Winter Dance Party. In "Not Fade Away", a turbulent road novel taking place at the end of the fifties, Jim Dodge narrates an eventful trip to the Big Bopper's grave. Richardson was portrayed by Gailard Sartain in "The Buddy Holly Story", Stephen Lee in "La Bamba", and John Ennis in "". On the London stage, Richardson has been portrayed by John Simon Rawlings and
Ritchie Valens Keane recommended shortening his surname to "Valens" from Valenzuela to widen his appeal beyond any obvious ethnic group. Valens demonstrated several songs in Keane's studio that he later recorded at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood. The demos primarily consisted of Valens singing and playing guitar, but some of them also featured drums. These originals can be heard on the Del-Fi album, "Ritchie Valens – The Lost Tapes". Two of the tracks laid down in Keane's studio were taken to Gold Star Studios and had additional instruments dubbed over to create full-band recordings. "Donna" was one track (although two other preliminary