On Friday 9 September 2022, Gene Watson met Leroy Van Dyke at Wild Rose Casino in Jefferson, Iowa.
‘What an honour it was for us to have a true country music legend, Leroy Van Dyke, visiting us at our soundcheck at Wild Rose Casino in Jefferson, Iowa on Friday 9 September 2022.
Leroy turns 93 years old on Tuesday 4 October 2022, but still sings like he’s 20, and the band enjoyed backing him up while he helped us with our soundcheck.
He wasn’t even a part of the show (but we wished he had been) – but he jumped right on stage to sing.
For you young ones, Leroy held the No.1 spot on the Billboard country music singles chart for 19 consecutive weeks in 1961 (42 total weeks on the chart) with his monster hit, ‘Walk On By’ (written by Kendall Hayes).
You should also know his first huge hit, ‘The Auctioneer’ (written by Leroy Van Dyke and Buddy Black) (No.9 on the Billboard country music singles chart in 1956, and No.19 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop music singles chart in 1956), and so many more.
He’s recorded over 500 songs.
Thank you, Leroy!’
Source
• Gene Watson on Facebook
