Dee began his career with the rock band called “The Oracles” but its members eventually parted ways. Dee continued to pursue his love of music by auditioning for the band known as “The Incredible Gap,” which he considered a step forward for him, as the group performed “lounge” music where he could work with his voice more. When the group disbanded, Dee began his career at F.N. Burt, a printing company in Cheektowaga and was there for more than 25 years. In 1999, F.N. Burt closed its doors, and Dee found moving from job to job, but never finding a vocation that suited him anymore.

     One evening Dee came across an advertisement in a local newspaper and saw that someone was looking for celebrity impersonators. After calling and setting up an audition, he soon learned that the person who ran the advertisement was an Elvis Presley impersonator planning to start a legend show; Dee was signed on to perform as Roy Orbison.

     Dee said he always felt he had a connection with Orbison not only because of his great music, but the style that he brought forward to his performances.

     Since then, Dee has been working independently and currently performs all over Erie County at venues such as nursing homes, bars, benefits, and private parties.

     Dee has performed with other local celebrity impersonators including Elvis, Tony Bennett, Neil Diamond, Patsy Cline, and Johnny Cash.

     To spice up his performances, Dee includes songs from the 1950s artist Paul Anka, Gene Pitney, and Conway Twitty.

     “When you’re singing a particular song and somebody gets so emotional that they cry because of the song and the way your singing it, that’s a reward right there,” remarked Dee. “When you touch people emotionally – you can’t really go any further than that- you’ve made it, and of course that gives you the energy and steam to go on and do more.”