VROOMAN, LYNN

Homebase: Seattle
Stats: 12-8-1943....
Misc Notes: Mary Lynnette Vrooman was born on December 8, 1943 in Portland, Oregon. By age 12 she was active with the Young Oregonians youth club as sponsored by The Oregonian newspaper. In 1956. In October 1956 she performed two songs - "Happiness Street" and You Always Hurt The One You Love" - at a Y.O. luncheon and the Oregonian noted that she "has a big voice and lets it go in rock 'n' roll."

The Oregonian, October 31, 1956.

Soon after, her family moved to Federal Way, Washington, where she continued with music. In 1959 she, backed by the Tri-Cities-based combo, The Royals, recorded a rock 'n' roll single - "Hopeless Love" / "Let The Good Times Roll" - in Seattle for the newly founded Penguin Records label. Her record received airplay on various local stations including Seattle's KOL, Renton's KUTY, and Tacoma's KMO. That led to television appearances in Tacoma on KMO's Dance Party teen-dance show, and KTNT's Bar-K Jamboree backed by Buck Owen's band, the Bar K Gang. She also played some gigs with another Penguin-associated rock band, The Continentals. Vrooman began singing and playing piano for local USO shows, where she befriended another young musicians named Merrilee Gunst (who would later gain fame as Merrilee Rush). On July 21, 1961, Vrooman married a member of the U.S. Air Force, Richard Williams, in Skamania County. Then for several years she slipped away from the public record. By 1969, Lynne Williams was entertaining crowds at Tacoma's Top Of The Ocean restaurant/lounge and in 1970 she was based at the Fireside Lounge in Lakewood, Washington's Buffet House restaurant. On May 14, 1971, the couple were granted a divorce. By 2014 "pianist Lynn Vrooman" was performing in Gig Harbor, Washington, at the Sound Vista Village, where she again was offering "Musical Fun" as late as 2017.