Bobby Vee, Minnesota's first rock star known for the early 1960s hits "Rubber Ball" and "Take Good Care of My Baby," has announced that he has Alzheimer's.
On his website, the 69-year-old St. Cloud area resident explained that he was diagnosed a year ago. Vee wrote: "Needless to say it was a moment that stunned my family and myself to the core. Since this time I have chosen to remain private and to focus on what is most important to me: my family and my music."
Born Robert Velline in Fargo, N.D., he got his break filling in for Buddy Holly in 1959 in Moorhead, Minn., after Holly died in a plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa. Using the stage name Bobby Vee, he landed six hits in Billboard's Top 10.
Vee also gave the musician soon to be known as Bob Dylan his first professional gig. In 1959, Vee hired the mysterious pianist from Hibbing who said his name was Elston Gunn to play in his backup band, the Shadows; Gunn lasted only a couple of gigs.
Vee, who moved to St. Cloud in 1981, has continued to perform on the oldies circuit for decades. In addition to his own health issues, Karen Velline, his wife of 48 years, is awaiting a lung transplant at Duke University in North Carolina. Vee is continuing to record music with his sons, his longtime accompanists.
JON BREAM
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