MINNEAPOLIS _ Bobby Vee's storied career involved a who's who of rock 'n' roll heroes, including Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan and the Beatles. Even after those ties and his own Billboard chart success, though, he famously remained a humble, hard-working Midwesterner who settled into a quiet life in St. Joseph, Minn., with his wife of more than 50 years, Karen.
Vee, 73, died early Monday morning of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He had been in hospice care at a facility in Rogers, Minn., according to the St. Cloud Times.
Born Robert Thomas Velline on April 30, 1943, and raised in Fargo, Vee famously got his big break under tragic circumstances at the age of 15 in 1959. He and his band, the Shadows, were recruited to fill in for Buddy Holly at the Moorhead stop of the Winter Dance Party Tour the night after Holly died in a plane crash outside Clear Lake, Iowa.
Vee's career soon rocketed after that as he earned teen idol fame and landed 38 singles in the Billboard Hot 100 between 1959-1970, including "Suzie Baby," "Devil Or Angel," "Rubber Ball," "Take Good Care of My Baby," "Run To Him" and "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes."
A knock-off on Holly's Peggy Sue" that he originally recorded for Minneapolis's Soma Records, "Suzie Baby" was Vee's first big hit and landed him a national deal with Liberty Records. "Take Good Care of My Baby," written by legendary Brill Building songwriting duo Carole King and Gerry Goffin, became his first No. 1 in Billboard and probably his most signature song. The Beatles sang their own version of the latter hit at their audition for Decca Records in 1961.
For a few days in 1959, Vee employed a young Robert Zimmerman as the piano player in the Shadows, even though the future Bob Dylan didn't really know how to play piano at that point.
Dylan never forgot Vee's kindness and influence. In 2013, he paid tribute to Vee during a 2013 concert at Midway Stadium in St. Paul, where he performed "Suzie Baby" and reconnected with Vee reconnected backstage.
"I lived here a while back, and since that time I've played all over the world, with all kinds of people. Everybody from Mick Jagger to Madonna and everybody in between," said Dylan, usually a man of few words in concert. "But the most beautiful person I've ever been on the stage with was a man who's here tonight, who used to sing a song called 'Suzie Baby.' I'm gonna say that Bobby Vee is actually here tonight. Maybe you could show your appreciation with just a round of applause. So we've been trying to do this song, like I've done it with him before once or twice _ 'Suzie Baby.'?"
Just last month, a musical about Vee's life debuted at the History Theatre in St. Paul, "Teen Idol: The Bobby Vee Story," which showcased his hit songs such as "Suzie Baby" and "Take Good Care of My Baby" and highlighted his move back to Minnesota from California to live a balanced life with his wife and their four children.
