Bobby Vee was 15 in 1959 when his band filled in at a hometown gig in Moorhead right after the death of intended headliner Buddy Holly. In the decades to come, he would notch 10 Top 20 hits and tour the world. Vee was diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease in 2011 and retired from music, though he has just released The Adobe Sessions, a CD of covers and new material. He shared his thoughts about some of the music icons he’s known—try to match the quote to the correct person.
1. “He played really good in the key of C, but when the piano went silent, next thing I knew he was next to me singing backup and doing Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps–style handclaps.”
2. “I remember being at his 30th birthday party. I walked up to him and said, ‘You sure look good for a guy your age.’ He was truly one of the good guys.”
3. “We were invited to perform at his 50th birthday party at his home outside of London in 1998, and I was in awe because I was such a fan. When I walked in the door, he pulled out a stack of albums—I’m pretty sure he had every album I ever released—and asked me to sign them for him.”
4. “He brought us in on three separate occasions to perform and to commemorate the legacy of Buddy Holly. At Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London in 1995, he joined us on stage for an epic version of ‘Rave On’—a wonderful person and genuinely gracious.”
A. Dick Clark
B. Andrew Lloyd Webber
C. Paul McCartney
D. Bob Dylan
ANSWERS: 1-D; 2-A; 3-B; 4-C.
