Biography for
Bobby Vee (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

Birth Name

Mini Biography

Contrary to popular belief, Bobby Vee was not one of the flood of Italian-American rockers to come out of the New York-New Jersey-Philadelphia area in the '50s and '60s. He was born Robert Velline in Fargo, ND, and although he started playing music when he was just a young teenager, it was country music, not rock. However, he, his brother and some friends eventually formed a rock band, "The Shadows", and began to attract some attention in the Fargo area. His big "break" came when rock legends Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper and Buddy Holly died in a plane crash in 1959 en route to a concert in Minnesota. The concert's promoters decided to put on the show anyway, and asked for help from local talent. Bobby, who knew the words to all of the songs that were to be played, found himself on stage, and at 15 years old began his career as a rock star. He and his group had a local hit with "Susie Baby", which came to the attention of executives at Liberty Records in Hollywood, and he and The Shadows were signed to the label. The next few records they cut went basically nowhere, however, and Liberty was all set to cancel their contract when a DJ in Pittsburgh played the "B" side to one of their records, a remake of an old ballad by The Clovers called "Devil or Angel". It became a hit in Pittsburgh and then spread throughout the Northeast, eventually hitting #6 on the national pop charts. Liberty then signed Vee to a five-year contract. He had a string of hits for the label, such as "Take Good Care of My Baby", "Rubber Ball", "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" and "Come Back When You Grow Up, Girl".

Trivia

One of the better teen idols of the late '50s and early '60s, with a voice that many have compared to that of Buddy Holly, he had a sizable string of hits between 1960 and 1967 for Liberty Records, including "Take Good Care of My Baby," "Run to Him" (both co-written by 'Carole King'), "Rubber Ball," "Devil or Angel," "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes," "Stayin' In," "More Than I Can Say," and "Come Back When You Grow Up".

1959: Booked for show left vacant by the airplane-crash death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson Sr., alias The Big Bopper. His piano player for this gig was Robert Zimmerman - the future Bob Dylan.

His father was a violinist and piano player

Of Swedish and Finnish descent.

His favorite songs are "You've Got Your Troubles" by The Fortunes, "Handle With Care" by The Traveling Wilburys, "True Love Ways" by Buddy Holly, "Up On Cripple Creek" by The Band, "I Will" by The Beatles, "That's All Right" by Elvis Presley, "Rock 'N' Roll Is King" by Electric Light Orchestra, "Every Day I Have To Cry" by Dusty Springfield, "Hats Off To Larry" by Del Shannon and "On A Night Like This" by Bob Dylan. (Source: BBC Radio 2 "Tracks of My Years").

Where Are They Now

(February 2004) Has lived in St. Cloud, Minnesota, for many years now and still continues to tour about forty weeks a year.

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