Monday is National Roadie Day in the US
Monday is Victoria Day, which gives us a nice long weekend to kick off the summer season. In the US, May 19 has been officially recognized as National Roadie Day, which is a chance to honour the men and women behind the scenes that make live events possible.
Why May 19 and why now? It would have been the birthday of Ben “Lovely” Dorsey, the man credited as being the world’s first roadie. He began his career hauling gear for the likes of Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, Elvis, Johnny Cash, and dozens of others. He acquired the nickname “Lovely” because that’s what he called everyone.
Dorsey had several songs written about him. Here’s one of them.
Willie Nelson was behind the documetnary, King of the Roadies.
And you might remember the 1980 movie Roadie which started Meat Loaf as a character inspired by Dorsey along with Blondie and Alice Cooper.
