Bobby Vee: 1960s pop star dies aged 73 after battle with Alzheimer's disease

Pop singer Bobby Vee, the boyish 1960s singer whose hits included the chart-topping Take Good Care of My Baby, has died aged 73.

His career was born when he took to the stage in Minnesota as a teenager to fill in after the 1959 plane crash that killed rock 'n' roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP "The Big Bopper" Richardson on their way to the concert.

Vee, who also helped a young Bob Dylan get his start, died of advanced Alzheimer's disease, his son Jeff Velline said.

Vee was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2011, and performed his last show that year.

He died peacefully surrounded by family, Mr Velline said, calling it "the end of a long hard road".

Mr Velline said his father was "a person who brought joy all over the world. That was his job".

Vee went on to record 38 Top 100 hits from 1959 to 1970. He hit the top of the charts in 1961 with the Carole King-Gerry Goffin song Take Good Care of My Baby and reached number 2 with the follow-up, Run to Him.

Other Vee hits include Rubber Ball, The Night Has A Thousand Eyes, Devil or Angel, Come Back When You Grow Up, Please Don't Ask About Barbara and Punish Her.

Vee thrown into the spotlight

Born Robert Velline in Fargo, North Dakota, Vee was only 15 when he took the stage in Moorhead, Minnesota, after the February 3, 1959, plane crash in Iowa that killed Holly, Valens and Richardson.

That dark day in rock history was commemorated by singer-songwriter Don McLean in his 1972 pop song American Pie as "The Day The Music Died".

The call went out for local acts to replace Holly at his scheduled show at the Moorhead National Guard Armory.

Vee and his two-week-old band named The Shadows volunteered.

"I didn't have any fear right then," Vee said in a 1999 interview.

"The fear didn't hit me until the spotlight came on, and then I was just shattered by it.

Vee called his debut a milestone in his life, and "the start of a wonderful career".

Within months the young singer and The Shadows, which included his older brother Bill on lead guitar, recorded Vee's Suzie Baby. It was a regional hit, and Vee soon signed with Liberty Records.

Besides his clear, ringing voice, Vee also was a skilled rhythm guitarist and occasional songwriter.

He racked up six gold singles, but saw his hits diminish with the British invasion of The Beatles and other English groups in the mid-1960s.

Vee kept recording into the 2000s, and maintained a steady touring schedule.

But he began having trouble remembering lyrics during performances, and he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2011.

Bob Dylan's lasting effect

He performed his last show that year, billed only as his retirement, during an annual community fundraiser that his family holds near their home in St Joseph, Minnesota.

But he did not announce his diagnosis until a year later on his website.

A young Bob Dylan briefly played with Vee's band. Although their time playing together was short, Dylan had a lasting effect on Vee's career.

It was Dylan, himself going by the name Elston Gunn when he hammered on the piano at a couple of The Shadows' gigs, who suggested Vee change his last name from Velline to Vee.

In his Chronicles: Volume One memoir, Dylan recalled that Vee "had a metallic, edgy tone to his voice and it was as musical as a silver bell".

When Dylan performed in St Paul in 2013, he saluted Vee in the audience and performed Suzie Baby.

Vee and his wife, Karen, were married for more than 50 years. She died of kidney failure in 2015 at age 71. The couple had four children, including sons who performed with Vee.

In a 2013 interview, Vee said he knew his abilities were diminishing and he did not want to put his family through a public decline.

"It's not getting any better, I can tell you that," Vee said.

"But I'm doing the best I can."

AP