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Bobby Vee
Vee in 1962
Background information
Birth name	Robert Thomas Velline
Born	(1943-04-30)April 30, 1943 Fargo, North Dakota, U.S.
Died	October 24, 2016(2016-10-24) (aged 73) Rogers, Minnesota, U.S.
Genres	Pop rock and roll
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals, rhythm guitar, bass, piano
Years active	1959–2014
Labels	Liberty Records
Website	www.bobbyvee.net

Robert Thomas Velline (April 30, 1943 – October 24, 2016), known professionally as Bobby Vee, was an American pop singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s.^[1] According to Billboard magazine, he had thirty-eight Hot 100 chart hits, ten of which reached the Top 20.^[2][3] He had six gold singles in his career.^[4]

Vee was born in Fargo, North Dakota, to Sydney Ronald Velline (a chef, pianist and fiddle player) and Saima Cecilia Tapanila, a family of Norwegian and Finnish heritage.^[5] His first single, "Suzie Baby," was written by Vee with a nod to Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue" and recorded for the Minneapolis-based Soma Records in 1959; it was a huge hit in Minnesota and drew enough national attention to be purchased by Liberty Records, who signed him later that year.^[5] His followup single, a cover of Adam Faith's UK number-one "What Do You Want?", charted in the lower reaches of the Billboard pop chart in early 1960. His fourth release, a revival of the Clovers' doo-wop ballad "Devil or Angel" (U.S. number six), brought him into the big time with U.S. buyers. His next single, "Rubber Ball" (1961, U.S. number six, Australia number one), made him an international star.

Vee's 1961 summer release "Take Good Care of My Baby" went to number one on the Billboard U.S. listings^[1] and number three in the UK Singles Chart.^[6] Known primarily as a performer of Brill Building pop material,^[5] he went on to record a string of international hits in the 1960s, including "More Than I Can Say" (1961, UK #4), "Run to Him" (1961, US #2; UK #6), "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" (1963, US #3; UK #3) and "Come Back When You Grow Up" (1967, US #3). When Vee recorded "Come Back When You Grow Up" he was joined by a band called the Strangers. He also recorded, in 1961, a version of the song "Lollipop", originally by Ronald & Ruby, which also became a success. Vee had a total of ten hit singles in the UK, ending with "Bobby Tomorrow" (UK #21) in 1963.

Vee was also a pioneer in the music video genre, appearing in several musical films, as well as in the Scopitone series of early film-and-music jukebox recordings.

He received the North Dakota Roughrider Award in 1999.

He is mentioned in the film No Direction Home regarding his brief musical association with Bob Dylan and Dylan's suggestion that he was "Bobby Vee" after Vee's regional hit.

The Very Best of Bobby Vee, released by EMI/UK on May 12, 2008, charted in the UK top five. On January 17, 2011, EMI/UK released Rarities, a double-CD package with 61 tracks, many of which were previously unreleased. Others included were alternate takes and first-time stereo releases as well as tracks from the album Bobby Vee Live on Tour minus the "canned" audience.

On March 28, 2011, he became the 235th inductee into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. An active live performer into 2011, Vee was diagnosed with an early stage Alzheimer’s disease at which time he completed his scheduled tour obligations and recorded his final CD released three years later.^[4] In 2014 he was inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame.^[7]

Vee's career began in the midst of tragedy. On February 3, 1959, "The Day the Music Died," three of the four headline acts in the lineup of the traveling Winter Dance Party—Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper—were killed, along with the 21-year-old pilot, Roger Peterson, in the crash of a V-tailed 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza airplane. (Dion DiMucci, the second headliner, had opted not to travel on the plane.) It crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa en route to the next show on the tour itinerary in Moorhead, Minnesota. Velline, then 15 years of age, and a hastily assembled band of Fargo schoolboys (including his older brother Bill)^[5] calling themselves the Shadows volunteered for, and were given, the unenviable job of filling in for Holly and his band at the Moorhead engagement. Their performance there was a success, setting in motion a chain of events that led to Vee's career as a popular singer.^[4]

In 1963, Vee released a tribute album on Liberty Records called I Remember Buddy Holly. In the liner notes, Vee recalled Holly's influence on him and the events surrounding Holly's death:

Like so many other people, I became a Buddy Holly fan the very first time I heard him sing. I've been a fan ever since and I guess I always will be. I remember a few years ago when Buddy was scheduled to appear at a dance in my home town of Fargo, North Dakota. It was going to be a big event for the whole town, but even more so for me. I was anxiously looking forward to seeing Buddy in action.

The day he was to arrive disaster struck, taking Buddy's life, along with the lives of two other fine singers, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. The shocking news spread through Fargo very quickly. The local radio station broadcast a plea for local talent to entertain at the scheduled dance. About a week before this, I had just organized a vocal and instrumental group of five guys. Our style was modelled after Buddy's approach and we had been rehearsing with Buddy's hits in mind. When we heard the radio plea for talent, we went in and volunteered. We hadn't even named the group up to that time, so we gave ourselves a name on the spot, calling ourselves The Shadows. We appeared at the dance and were grateful to be enthusiastically accepted. Soon afterwards, I made my first record. It was called "Suzie Baby" and I was pretty lucky with it; it was a fair-sized hit.

For some time now, I have wanted to make an album in tribute to Buddy, but I wasn't sure it was the proper thing to do. However, during the past year, I have received many requests to do such an album. These requests came not only from my fans and from DJs, but also from Buddy's loyal following---still a large group of devoted fans. It...gave me the confidence to do the album. From "Suzie Baby" to this present album, I have made many records, but I have never forgotten Buddy Holly and his influence on my singing style and my career.

Vee went on to become a bona fide star and regularly performed at the Winter Dance Party memorial concerts in Clear Lake. His three sons, all musicians themselves, performed with him there.

Early in Vee's career, a musician calling himself Elston Gunnn (sic) briefly toured with the band.^[8][9][10] This was Robert Allen Zimmerman, who later went on to fame as Bob Dylan. Dylan's autobiography mentions Vee and provides complimentary details about their friendship, both professional and personal.

In a concert at Midway Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota, on July 10, 2013, Dylan said he had been on the stage with many stars, but that none of them were as meaningful as Vee. He said Vee was in the audience and then played Vee's hit "Suzie Baby" with emotion. Dylan said (in a video recording of the concert):

Thank you everyone, thank you friends. I lived here a while back, and since that time, I've played all over the world, with all kinds of people. And everybody from Mick Jagger to Madonna. And everybody in there in between. I've been on the stage with most of those people. But the most beautiful person I've ever been on the stage with, was a man who is here tonight, who used to sing a song called "Suzie Baby". I want to say that Bobby Vee is actually here tonight. Maybe you can show your appreciation with just a round of applause. So, we're gonna try to do this song, like I've done it with him before once or twice.

Dylan also recalled that Vee "had a metallic, edgy tone to his voice and it was as musical as a silver bell."^[4] Vee remembered that the musician he knew as Gunnn “played pretty good in the key of C.”^[5]

Vee and Karen Bergen married December 28, 1963.^[11] In the early 1980s Vee moved his family from Los Angeles to St. Cloud, Minnesota, where he and Karen organized annual fundraising concerts to provide music and arts facilities for local children.^[5] They had four children, including sons Jeffrey, Thomas, and Robert who performed with Vee in his later career,^[4] and daughter Jennifer.^[5] Karen died of kidney failure on August 3, 2015.^[12]

Vee continued performing live until 2011 when diagnosed with an early stage of Alzheimer's disease. In 2011, friends and family contributed to his final new recordings which were eventually released as The Adobe Sessions on February 3, 2014.^[13] On April 29, 2012, Vee announced publicly that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and consequently would withdraw from the music business.^[14] For the year prior to his death, he received hospice care in a long-term facility in Rogers, Minnesota, just outside of Minneapolis. On October 24, 2016, Vee died from complications of the disease at the age of 73.^[2][15][16]

Over the course of his career Vee achieved six gold singles^[4] and one gold album.

• "Devil or Angel" (1960)
• "Rubber Ball (1961)
• "Take Good Care of My Baby" (1961)
• "Run to Him (1961)
• "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" (1962)
• "Come Back When You Grow Up" (1966) (Bobby Vee and The Strangers)

• The Bobby Vee Singles Album (1980) certified gold in the UK.^[17]

• Swingin' Along (1961), Lippert Films, color, 74 minutes, director: Charles Barton, producer: Jack Leewood, screenplay: Arthur Morton. - Himself

A comedy about a songwriting contest, originally released in 1961 as Double Trouble. Scenes were added of Ray Charles (doing "What'd I Say") and Bobby Vee ("More Than I Can Say").

• Play It Cool (1962), Allied Artists, black and white, 82 minutes, director: Michael Winner, producers: Leslie Parkyn, Julian Wintle, screenplay: Jack Henry. - Himself

Selection of early 1960s performers woven through a plot about a bratty, rich teenage girl looking for her boyfriend. Vee sings "At A Time Like This".

• Just for Fun (1963), Columbia Pictures, black and white, 85 minutes, director: Gordon Fleming, producer and screenplay: Milton Subotsky. - Himself

British teens win the right to vote, so the two major political parties strive to win this new voting bloc to their sides. Meanwhile, there's a parade of pop stars including Freddy Cannon, Ketty Lester, Jeremy Lloyd, Bobby Vee, the Crickets, the Springfields, Jet Harris, Tony Meehan, Joe Brown and the Bruvvers, the Tornados, Brian Poole and the Tremeloes and Johnny Tillotson. Vee sings "All You Gotta Do Is Touch Me" and "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes".

• C'mon, Let's Live a Little (1967), Paramount Pictures, color, 85 minutes; director: David Butler; producers: John Herelandy, June Starr; screenplay: June Starr. - Jesse Crawford

• Official website
• Bobby Vee at Classic Bands
• Bobby Vee at AllMusic
• Bobby Vee discography at Discogs
• Bobby Vee at IMDb
• Bobby Vee, 1943-2016 at SteynOnline