Chan Romero was a rock and roll singer and songwriter from Billings, Montana, best known for his energetic song "Hippy Hippy Shake." He was born Robert Lee "Chan" Romero in Billings on July 7, 1941, to parents of Spanish, Apache, Mexican, Cherokee, and Irish heritage who had moved to Montana as migrant farm workers during the Great Depression.

Growing up in Billings in a large family, Chan learned guitar by watching his older brothers and listening to early rock and roll. As a teenager at Billings Senior High School, he played in local bands and loved the music of Ritchie Valens and Elvis Presley, which inspired him to try to become a professional musician.

In the summer of 1958, while still a teenager, Romero hitchhiked from Billings to East Los Angeles to stay with relatives and look for a chance in the music business. There he wrote "Hippy Hippy Shake," which was recorded and released in 1959 and later covered by many groups, including The Beatles and popular bands in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Although "Hippy Hippy Shake" was his biggest hit, Chan continued to perform and record music for many years and became known as one of the first Latino rock-and-roll performers. He was the first Latino artist inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, and music fans around the world still connect the song "Hippy Hippy Shake" with the young rocker from Billings, Montana.

Chan Romero died in April 2024 at the age of 82, but in Montana he is remembered as one of the state's early rock-and-roll pioneers and as a musician who showed that someone from a working-class Billings family could write a song heard all over the world.