Bebe Buell

Infobox Playboy Playmate


imagesize =
caption = Buell at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival
name = Bebe Buell
issue = November 1974
birthname =
birthplace = Portsmouth, Virginia, United States
birthdate = birth date and age|1953|7|14|mf=y
deathdate =
deathplace =
bust = 35 in / 89 cm
waist = 24 in / 61 cm
hips = 35 in / 89 cm
height = height|ft=5|in=9 Buell, Bebe and Bockris, Victor. "Rebel Heart: An American Rock and Roll Journey". St. Martin's Press, 2001, page 296. (ISBN 0-312-26694-4, ISBN 0-312-30155-3)]
weight = convert|120|lb|kg st|abbr=on
preceded = Ester Cordet
succeeded = Janice Raymond
website =

Bebe Buell (born Beverle Lorence Buell on July 14, 1953, in Portsmouth, Virginia) is an American model and singer. She is also known for dating and marrying rock musicians.

In 2001, she wrote an autobiography (with Victor Bockris) entitled "Rebel Heart: An American Rock and Roll Journey". It hit the New York Times Bestseller list and the paperback was issued in 2002.

Cameron Crowe has said he based his "Penny Lane" character in the 2000 movie "Almost Famous" on two women he met during the early 1970s — Bebe Buell and Pennie Trumble aka "Penny Lane". He speaks highly of both Buell and Trumble in the extended DVD of the movie and even said that he took some of Penny's dialogue from statements Buell had made in various interviews over the years. (Kate Hudson was nominated for an Oscar for the role.)

Modeling

Buell's mother, Dorothea, sent her pictures to the Ford modeling agency, and received notice that the agency was interested after only three days. She began modeling professionally at the age of seventeen, and moved to New York City in 1972.

She was "Playboy" magazine's Playmate of the Month for the November 1974 issue; her centerfold was photographed by Richard Fegley. She was one of the first top-line fashion models to pose for the men's magazine, although it cost her the contract with Ford. 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.

She returned to modeling in 2003 signing with the IMG Agency in New York City.

Relationships

In 1972 while working as a teenage model in New York City, Buell met and dated rock star Todd Rundgren for several years. During and after her sometime open relationship with Rundgren, she also became intimate with many other famous musicians, including Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, and Steven Tyler maintaining a home with Rundgren in both New York City and the Woodstock New York area where they lived together until late 1977. Many people assumed they were married and Bebe was often referred to as Bebe Rundgren in the media. She is the mother, with Tyler, of actress Liv Tyler, born July 1977. Buell allowed her daughter to believe that Rundgren was her father until the late 1980s, as Tyler was still deeply addicted to drugs at the time. Buell then moved on to Rod Stewart and in the summer of 1978, she began a tempestuous affair with the married but separated Elvis Costello which continued on and off until 1984. She was also involved with the late Stiv Bators and actor Jack Nicholson.

Buell married sometime musician and actor Coyote Shivers in 1992, but they divorced in 1999 after a year long separation. She later married musician Jim Wallerstein of Das Damen and Vacationland fame in 2002.

Music

In 1981, Buell recorded a four song EP on Rhino Records, produced by Rick Derringer and Ric Ocasek, with The Cars serving as her band on two tracks. 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. She also formed the band The B-Sides in 1980 but they disbanded in 1985.

She founded another band called The Gargoyles in 1985, and released a couple of singles. A few large record companies were showing interest, but they disbanded when the paternity of her daughter Liv became publicly known in 1991. She withdrew from performing and for six years in the 1990s, Buell managed her daughter Liv, helping to launch her career as a successful international model and actress.

After her daughter left home in 1997, Buell returned to music to record a solo effort with producer Don Fleming, released in 2000. She also performed around New York with the Bebe Buell Band, and later up with Boston musicians The Rudds and The Neighborhoods drummer Johnny Lynch to form a new band for a few shows which also includes husband Jim Wallerstein.

As of June 2007 the line-up for The Bebe Buell Band is: David Matos on guitar, Jim Wallerstein also on guitar, Tony Goddess on bass and Bobbie Rae on drums. She plans to use this group of players for her next record which is in the works for a 2008 release.

Discography

with The B-Sides
* "Covers Girl" (1981), 12" 4 song EP produced by Ric Ocasek & Rick Derringer- track listing- side one- 1)My Little Red Book 2)Wild One Forever- side two- 3)The Little Black Egg 4)Funtime
* "A Side of the B-Sides" (1984), 3 song 12" EP Picture Disc produced by Todd Rundgren- track listing- 1)Mr. Never Forever 2)Windy Words 3)Battle Cry

with the Gargoyles'Two 45 releases:
* "Gargoyle"/"Bored Baby" (1993), 7" Single/Cave Creek Records/Ultra Under
* "Jacuzzi Jungle"/"Thirteen Wrong Turns" (1987), 7" Single/Route One Records

Solo
* "Free To Rock" (2000) produced by Don Fleming w/ The Bebe Buell Band
* "Retrosexual", (1994, reissued 2004) for Sky Dog Records France
* "Little Black Egg" (1982), 7" Single/UK for Moonlight Records

References

External links

* [http://www.bebe-buell.com/ Official site]
*
*/ Internet Movie Database entry