| Biography | Robert Thomas Velline (born April 30, 1943), better known as Bobby Vee, is an American pop music singer. According to Billboard magazine, Vee has had 38 Hot 100 chart hits, 10 of which hit the Top 20.
Born in Fargo, North Dakota, to Sydney Ronald Velline and Saima Cecilia Tapanila, he had his first single with "Suzie Baby", an original song penned by Vee that nodded towards Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue" for the Minneapolis-based Soma Records in 1959; it drew enough attention and chart action to be purchased by Liberty Records, which signed him to their label later that year. His follow-up single, a cover of Adam Faith's UK number 1 "What Do You Want?", charted in the lower reaches of Billboard in early 1960; however, it was his fourth release, a revival of the Clovers' doo-wop ballad "Devil or Angel", that brought him into the big time with U.S. buyers. His next single, "Rubber Ball", was the record that made him an international star.
Vee's 1961 summer release "Take Good Care of My Baby" went to No.1 on the Billboard U.S. listings and number 3 in the UK Singles Chart.[1] Known primarily as a performer of Brill Building pop material, he went on to record a string of international hits in the 1960s, including "Devil or Angel" (U.S. #6), "Rubber Ball" (1961, U.S. #6), "More Than I Can Say" (1961, U.K. #4), "Run to Him" (1961, U.S. #2), "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" (1963, U.S. #3), and "Come Back When You Grow Up" (U.S. #3). When Vee recorded "Come Back When You Grow Up" in 1967, he was joined by a band called "The Strangers".
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 is a 1999 inductee of the North Dakota "Roughrider Award". 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.
EMI/UK released The Very Best of Bobby Vee on May 12, 2008. This package charted in the UK top five. On January 17, 2011, EMI/UK released Rarities, a double CD package with 61 tracks, many of which had been previously unreleased. Others included were alternate takes and first-time stereo releases, as well as tracks from the Bobby Vee Live on Tour album minus the "canned" audience.
On March 28, 2011, he became the 235th inductee into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
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