Bobby Vee er død 73 år gammel. Vee var en af de mange Bobbyer, der huserede i amerikansk pop i de tidlige tressere, hvor han blev teenageidol med masser af hitlistesange (38 ialt). Vees karriere blev initieret på en tragisk baggrund. Da Buddy Holly – sammen med Riche Valen og The Big Bopper – blev dræbt ved en flyulykke den 3. februar 1959, fik Bobby Vee til opgave, sammen med et til lejligheden sammensat band, at overtage Buddy Hollys engagement i byen Moorhead. Og det blev så stor en succes, at det satte gang i den unge Bobbys musikalske løbebane.

Og Wikipedia fortæller en sjov historie om Bobby Vee:

Early in Vee’s career, a musician named Elston Gunnn [sic] briefly toured with the band. “Gunnn”, whose birth name was Robert Allen Zimmerman, later went on to fame as Bob Dylan.

Dylan’s autobiography, Chronicles, Volume One, 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 an audio recording of the concert),

Thank you everyone, thank you friends. I left 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 meaningful 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.