In 1967,
Cardiff-born Shelley co-founded the band Hills Contemporary Grass with
Tony Bourge on guitar and vocals and
Ray Phillips on drums. The following year they changed their name to Budgie. as they both share the position of bassist/vocalist in
power trio bands, both have distinctive high-pitched singing voices, and during the mid- to late 1970s, they bore a striking resemblance to one another, with long, straight hair and large glasses. Both vocalists possessed a high tenor vocal range, but unlike Lee, who is a
fingerstyle player, Shelley played bass with a
pick. In addition to singing and playing bass for the group, Shelley also performed keyboards on Budgie's early albums, including the
Mellotron on "Young Is a World" from the band's second album
Squawk. Budgie's November 2010 tour of Central Europe had to be cancelled as Shelley was hospitalised on 9 November in
Wejherowo, Poland, with a 6 cm
aortic aneurysm. After surgery, he returned to Britain for recovery, but no decision about the future of the band had been made. By the time of his death in 2022, Budgie were considered disbanded or on hiatus, having not performed or recorded since Shelley's hospitalisation. ==Personal life and death==