PEGGY LEE
Musician Miss Peggy Lee was born Norma Deloris Engstrom, on May 26, 1920, in Jamestown, North Dakota. Norma was seventh of eight children born to Marvin and Selma Engstrom who were both of Scandinavian descent. Selma passed away when Norma was only four-years-old and soon afterward the family’s house was lost to fire. Shortly after […]
LAWRENCE WELK
Lawrence Welk was born to Ludwig and Christiana Welk in the German-speaking community of Strasburg, North Dakota, on March 11 of 1903. Lawrence was sixth of the Welk’s eight children and grew up helping on the family’s farm. In addition to growing crops and raising chickens and cows, Lawrence’s father secured income by performing with […]
BOBBY VEE
Robert Thomas Velline was born of Norwegian and Finnish heritage, on April 30, 1943, to parents Sydney Ronald Velline and Saima Cecilia Tapanila in Fargo, North Dakota. Velline’s family was a musical one – his father played violin and piano and his uncles and two older brothers, Bill and Sidney Jr., were musicians as well. […]
MITCH MALLOY
Mitch Malloy was born on August 26, 1961, and raised in Dickinson, ND. He was a star on the basketball team in high school, but when it came time to choose, he chose music. “Hands down, there wasn’t really a choice to make. I loved playing basketball, but when I had to choose one or […]
ARNOLD CHRISTIANSON
Arnold Christianson, was born on a farm north of Driscoll, North Dakota in 1908 to George and Elle Christianson. He taught himself to play the ukulele as a youth, graduated to a banjo “tuned like a uke,” and finally settled on the guitar after finding one that belonged to one of his brothers that wasn’t […]
LYNN ANDERSON
Lynn Rene Anderson was born to Casey and Lizz Anderson on September 26 in 1947. Lynn was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota and was raised in Fair Oaks, California by her parents who were both songwriters. It’s said that Lynn’s musical talent was recognizable by age six and that her mother’s work as a […]