The tribute will be held Saturday, Sept. 20 in Shediac

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Times & Transcript Staff

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SHEDIAC - Friends, fans, family and musicians will gather at the Boishebert Club in Shediac Sept. 20 to honour the late singer and guitarist Gerry Holley, a popular musician described by friends as a "walking jukebox" who gained a large following in the 1960s.

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Gerry Holley was a popular musician in the 1960s.

The tribute will be held Saturday, Sept. 20, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Boishebert Club, 322 Main St.. Admission is free.

Holley died in June in Vernon, British Columbia following a lengthy illness. He was the lead singer of Roger and the Playboys and sang with other local musicians throughout his life, a music career that included a platinum record for the single Heart.

"Gerry had a photographic memory," says friend and musician Paul Melanson. "He sang the current hits that were being played at the time. He was known to go to the Palm Lunch restaurant in Dieppe, get the songs, buy the records, memorize the lyrics. He would listen to thousands of songs for days on end, he knew them by memory. He was a walking jukebox."

Raised in Dieppe, Gerry first sang with The Goulds at Lakeside Golf Course and was only 12 or 13 when he became a founding member of The Rock-a-Billies, bringing rock & roll to Moncton. With Ronald LeBlanc, Paul Melanson and Paul LeBlanc, Gerry sang the hits of the era and performed at several dance halls and on the Bunkhouse Boys show on CKCW.

Then in 1958, Gerry joined Roger and the Boys as lead vocalist. Roger Cormier played bass, Paul Melanson played piano, Paul LeBlanc was on drums and Ron "Ti-Ro" Arsenault was the first guitarist. George Hebert would later join as guitarist and Leo Doiron would become the drummer, in the band would eventually become Roger and the Playboys and then The Brunswick Playboys.

Gerry would also perform off and on for the next three decades with the Pete Porter Orchette, had his own band The Gerry Holley Collection, among others.

He was working on the formation of a trio called Lady & The Tramps with Claude LeBlanc and Jocelyne Roy before his last illness.

Any band members who played with Gerry Holley over the years are invited to share their memories during the special tribute. To share memories, please contact Claude LeBlanc at (506) 381-0127.