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Bebe Buell

Bebe Buell

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  • Bebe Buell was connected to:
    Jul 13
    John Mayall
    John Mayall
    John Brumwell Mayall (29 November 1933 – 22 July 2024) was an English blues and rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians. A singer, guitarist, harmonica player, and keyboardist, he had a career that spanned nearly seven decades, remaining an active musician until his death aged 90. Mayall has often been referred to as the "godfather of the British blues", and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the musical influence category in 2024.
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    Rock1984 shared a link: [link] @JohnMayall
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  • Bebe Buell was connected to:
    Jul 9
    Models 1
    Models 1 is a British model agency established in 1968 in London, England. Having originally started with only three models, Models 1 became Europe's leading agency after representing some of the world's top supermodels, including Naomi Campbell, Twiggy and Yasmin Le Bon.
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  • Timeline 33

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    1950s

    • Beverle Lorence “Bebe” Buell was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, the daughter of Dorothea Jean Johnson (née Brown) and Harold Lloyd Buell.

      As her father was not at home at the time of Bebe's birth, her mother waited until he got back before naming her daughter. As she was born on French National Day (Bastille Day), the nurses in the hospital took to calling her "Bebe Buell" (Baby Buell, in French).
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    • Before Bebe was 5, her parents divorced. Age: 3
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    1960s

    • When Bebe was 10, her mother Dorothea married a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, Major Leslie Edwin “Les” Johnson. Bebe grew up on various military bases in Virginia, North Carolina and Rhode Island. Age: 9
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    • Between 11 and 13 (grades 6-8) she attended the Catholic Villa Maria Academy, Lynchburg, VA Age: 11 - 13
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    • When Bebe was 14 years old, Jimi Hendrix asked to hang out with her. Not recognising him and mistaking him for a pimp, Bebe wasn’t interested. She was mortified when she realised who she’d told to get lost. Age: 14
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    • Bebe studied and graduated from high school in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Age: 14 - 18
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    1970s

    • Buell was discovered by modeling agency executive Eileen Ford after high school graduation at age 17, and relocated to New York City at age 18.

      Bebe moved into St. Mary’s Women’s Residence and began her career as a Ford model. Age: 18
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    • Bebe started enjoying New York’s nightlife going at music clubs like Max’s Kansas City and CBGBs. She just had been living in New York for only about three or four months when she met and fell in love with rocker and music producer Todd Rundgren. She then stared to miss curfew at St. Mary’s, as she was staying at his apartment on E. 13th St. more and more.

      Eventually she was asked to leave the residence and she soon was living with Todd. Age: 18
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    • As Todd was getting to produce bigger bands, he asked Bebe to find a better place to live. Bebe and her lifetime friend, journalist Liz Derringer (née Agriss), and soon they moved into a large tree-story townhouse on Horatio Street. Age: 19
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    • Todd introduced Bebe to famous rock photographer Lynn Goldsmith, who in 1973 persuaded Bebe to take some rather sexy photos for her. Bebe remembers the photo shoot: “We had some wine, and Lynn invited me to pose for some photos up on the roof of Todd’s and my house. She submitted those photos to Playboy and I received a response immediately!” Bebe and Lynn wanted to shoot together for the magazine as it would be a woman-woman job, but the magazine had their own staff to work with. Age: 19
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    • Bebe was Playboy magazine’s Playmate of the Month for the November 1974 issue. Photographer Richard Fegley shot her Centerfold. Age: 21
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    • After posing nude for Playboy in 1974, becoming the first fashion model to become a Playboy Playmate, her controversial layout caused her to be fired by the prestigious Ford modelling agency. It was also the first Playmate pictorial with a model and rock star boyfriend on the pages of the magazine. Being one of the first top-line fashion models to pose for the men’s magazine, it cost her the contract with Ford, but she was promptly signed to Wilhelmina in the USA and Models One in the UK. Even after the Playboy appearance affected her career in the States she was still in demand in Europe appearing in British and French Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Cosmopolitan to name a few. Age: 21
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    • By the fall of 1976, her relationship with Todd was on the rocks. Bebe had a short affair with Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler, producing “what is and always will be my proudest life achievement: my daughter, Liv. She and I have always been great friends, and I simply adore her. I’m her biggest fan, as she is mine”. Age: 23
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    • On July 1, 1977, Buell gave birth to future actress/model Liv Tyler, but Buell initially named her child Liv Rundgren and claimed that Todd Rundgren was the biological father to protect the child from Tyler’s drug addiction. Rundgren and Buell ended their romantic relationship shortly after Liv’s birth. Buell allowed her daughter to believe that Rundgren was her father until the late 1980s. Age: 23
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    • Being a single mum and aged only 24, Bebe suffered postpartum depression. She quickly moved on to Rod Stewart. Age: 24 - 24
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    • In 1978 she began a tempestuous affair with the married but separated Elvis Costello which continued on and off until 1984.

      In her memoirs “Rebel Heart: An American Rock'n'Roll Journey” Bebe claims to have aborted his child, and really regrets it. She didn’t want to be a single mom again with a second child. Age: 24 - 30
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    1980s

    • In 1980 Bebe Buell founded her first band, The B-Sides. Together their made several independent recordings; the first was called “Covers Girl” and was released by Rhino Records in 1981, produced by Rick Derringer and Ric Ocasek. It was a four song EP of obscure cover songs featuring legendary group The Cars backing her on two of the tracks, and rock guitar legend Rick Derringer. Bebe’s pure love of music and natural sense of cool come through on these recordings. The album cover art was a photo of me ripping up a magazine that featured Bebe on its cover.

      The B-Sides released a pure pop 12 inch picture disc “A Side of the B-Sides” (1983) produced by Bebe’s former beau Todd Rundgren.

      The band toured extensively in the US and disbanded in 1985. Age: 26 - 31
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    • The rock band Power Station began in 1984 when then-boyfriend John Taylor (of Duran Duran fame) pulled some famous friends together to provide backing for another of Buell’s musical efforts. Age: 30
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    • In 1985, she formed a new band, the Gargoyles, with boyfriend musician Charles Elliot Hall, and soon the labels were calling! They lived together in Portland and NYC with her daughter Liv and their cats. The female fronted hard rock unit was somewhat ahead of its time. They released the influential underground singles “Jacuzzi Jungle” and “Gargoyle” (1987) and toured heavily in the U.S. and Europe. These performances cemented Bebe’s reputation as a front person to be reckoned with. After spending some time in Portland, Maine during the 80’s she moved back to her beloved New York City 1989.

      The Gargoyles caught the eye of Joey Ramone. He had the band open for The Ramones on occasion and offers of record deals followed. Age: 31
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    1990s

    • Bebe Buell married for the first time when she was in her late 30s.

      On October 1991 Bebe Buell and sometime actor/musician Coyote Shivers met, and got married on June 30th 1992. They had a toxic relationship and got divorced in 1999 after a year-long separation. Age: 38 - 44
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    • In 1994 she blazed back into the music world, released a CD and coined a new word with “Retrosexual” a punk/hard rock underground classic. The record was a forceful, fun, rocking return to form for Bebe with a mix of hip, impeccable cover choices and catchy original songs. Age: 40
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    • After her daughter left home in 1997, 1998 began with a series of live shows at famed downtown mecca Don Hill’s brought Bebe a new crop of musicians and The Bebe Buell Band was born. Age: 44
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    • In 1999 she found love again – “with a wonderful man named Jim Wallerstein". In 2000 she explained "We have been together for a year and it is an equal and mature relationship. Jim is also in the entertainment industry and performs at the same nightclubs with me”. Musician James Frederick Wallerstein (aka Jimmy Walls) proposed to marriage on a weekend trip to Atlantic City in 2000. Age: 45
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    2000s

    • The Bebe Buell Band recorded the four song EP “Free To Rock” with famed producer Don Fleming, released in 2000. She received rave reviews for her powerful performances in both New York and Los Angeles. Age: 46
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    • In 2001 Bebe published her first memoir, New York Times' Best Seller, Rebel Heart: An American Rock ‘N’ Roll Journey, with Victor Bokris, published at St. Martin’s Press. Age: 47
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    • Bebe and James Frederic "Jimmy Walls" Wallerstein got married at the Old Town Meeting House in Yarmouth, Maine. Age: 49
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    • Bebe returned to modelling in 2003 signing with the IMG Agency in New York City. Age: 49
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    • In May 2009 Buell released her first recording in ten years, the single "Air Kisses for the Masses". She then recorded "Sugar", a 12-song album that can be downloaded on iTunes or Amazon MP3. Buell played a series of live shows in the New York City area to promote the single. Age: 55
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    2010s

    • In September 2011 Buell released "Hard Love", an aggressive rock album influenced by grunge and glam rock. It was produced by Wallerstein and Stephen DeAcutis. The 11-track record features original songs alongside covers of Gang of Four's "I Love a Man in Uniform" and "Baby Baby" by the English punk rock band the Vibrators. Age: 58
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    • Buell lived in New York and New Jersey before relocating to Nashville, Tennessee, in 2013. Age: 59
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    • In 2018 Bebe released her most personal album to date, Baring It All: Greetings From Nashbury Park. The 12 song record was recorded in Buell's two favorite music cities, Nashville and Asbury Park, and it featured the songs "By A Woman", "Hello Music City", and "Secret Sister". Age: 64
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    2020s

    • On 2020 she managed a new band, a duo from Sydney, Australia living in Nashville, The Scent, formed by singer/Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kurt Lowney and his musical soulmate Mika Nuutinen, who were produced by Buell's husband Jim Wallerstein. Age: 66
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    • On 2022 she penned her second autobiography, Rebel Soul: Music, Musings and Magic, published by Hozak Records. Age: 68
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    Quotes 11

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    • format_quote The problem was that everything was too easy – modeling, traveling, partying – and I forgot my original desires and beliefs. I started to fall into the pattern of going the route that was the most fun. And when I was young, I thought it would last forever. I thought that I would always be twenty-one and a size six and the flavor of the month. Certainly I wasn’t as focused or driven at twenty-one as my daughter was. I was still trying to figure out stuff, like a clumsy colt stumbling around in my platforms. I would go from wanting to be a rock star one day to wanting to be Lauren Hutton on every Vogue cover the next. Or I’d want to be the perfect rock and roll wife one minute, then wish I were a mother. And – God help me – at one point, I wanted to be a music mogul. I had all kinds of desires and there were all kinds of obstacles to fulfilling them. I wanted to be a sexual, free-spirited Brigitte Bardot/Jane Birkin type, but inside I was a frightened little girl with sexual hang-ups that thwarted that ambition.
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    Trivia 19

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    • stars  In 1974, John Lennon sang her "Happy Birthday".
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    • stars  The Raven has been her absolute favorite piece of writing since she was 10.
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    • stars  As a child she hung any pics she could find of Edgar Allen Poe in her scrapbook.
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    • stars  Her fav colours are leopard and glitter.
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    • stars  Bebe's mother, Dorothea Johnson, was a top model in the '50s.
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  • Bebe Buell was connected to:
    Jul 9
    Wilhelmina Models
    Wilhelmina Models
    Wilhelmina International Inc. (NASDAQ: WHLM), formerly Wilhelmina Models, is a full service modeling and talent agency headquartered in New York City, United States. The company also has offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and London. Founded in 1967 by Wilhelmina Cooper, it currently provides full-service representation and management to models, entertainers, artists, musicians, and athletes. In 2009 the company became the first and only publicly traded modeling and talent agency after its acquisition by New Century Equity Holdings Corp.
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  • Bebe Buell was connected to:
    Jul 1
    Marcia Resnick
    Marcia Resnick
    Marcia Resnick (born 1950) is an American photographer, author, and graphic artist. She was born and lives in New York City.
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    Jun 24
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  • Bebe Buell was connected to:
    May 23
    Kate Moss
    Kate Moss
    Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is an English model and businesswoman.
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    wjerryz For real @KateMoss
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  • Apr 23
    The Cars
    List, 8 members
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  • Apr 23
    Ric Ocasek
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  • Bebe Buell was connected to:
    Apr 18
    Chrissie Hynde
    Chrissie Hynde
    Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is a founding member and the guitarist, lead vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band the Pretenders, as well as its only constant member.
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    WarPig I think i heard something about her getting married with sid vicious so she wouldn\'t have to leave england. Is it true? @ChrissieHynde
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    Kakar2r A great voice @ChrissieHynde
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Age71
Birthday 14 July, 1953
Birthplace Portsmouth, Virginia
Height 5' 9" (175 cm)
Eye Color Blue
Hair Color Brown - Light
Zodiac Sign Cancer
Nationality American
Occupation Singer
Claim to Fame Liv Tyler's mother, Groupie of 1970`s, Playboy's Playmate of the Month November 1974
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pencil

Beverle Lorence "Bebe" Buell (born July 14, 1953) is an American singer and model. She was Playboy magazine's November 1974 Playmate of the Month. Buell moved to New York in 1972 after signing a modeling contract with Eileen Ford, and garnered notoriety after her publicized relationship with musician Todd Rundgren from 1972 until 1978, as well as her liaisons with several rock musicians during that time and over the following four decades. She is the mother of actress Liv Tyler (born 1977), whose biological father is Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. Todd Rundgren is Liv's legally adoptive father.

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