Robert Thomas Velline

 Robert Thomas Velline, known as Bobby Vee (April 30, 1943 – October 24, 2016)

Vee was a singer, songwriter and musician who was a teen idol in the early 1960s and also appeared in films. According to Billboard magazine, he had thirty-eight Hot 100 chart hits, ten of which reached the Top 20. He had six gold singles in his career. Some of his well known songs were "Rubber Ball" (1960), "Take Good Care Of My Baby" (1961), "Run To Him" (1961), "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes" (1962) and "Come Back When You Grow Up" (1967). The rise to stardom began as a result of the tragic plane crash which took the lives of Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Richie Valens (February 3, 1959), who were to perform in Moorhead, Minnesota. Vee and his group "The Shadows" filled in and he would go on to a successful recording career, beginning with the hit "Suzie Baby" (1959). Vee was also a pioneer in the music video genre, appearing in several musical films and in the Scopitone series of early film-and-music jukebox recordings. Vee was married from 1963 until his wife's death in 2015, they had four children. Vee continued to perform until being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2011, he had a public announcement in 2012 and withdrew from public. On October 24, 2016, Vee died from complications of the disease at the age of 73. He is buried with his wife Karen at Saint John the Baptist Parish Cemetery in Collegeville, Minnesota.