Dickey Lee, born in Memphis on 21 September 1936, built a varied career as a songwriter, pop performer and country artist. He co-wrote major country hits including George Jones’s “She Thinks I Still Care”, which Jones reportedly considered his favourite song, while also becoming a teen idol through dramatic pop hits such as “Patches” and “Laurie (Strange Things Happen)”.

Lee began writing songs as a teenager and signed with Sun Records after early regional success. “She Thinks I Still Care” spent 23 weeks on the US country chart, including six weeks at number one, while “Patches” reached number six on the pop chart and sold a million copies despite being banned by some radio stations; Lee later topped the country chart with “Rocky” in 1975 and joined the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1995.