Frankie Valli is an American singer who was born in Newark and rose to fame as the lead singer of the rock and roll group the Four Seasons. His unique, strong falsetto voice has made him famous.
Francesco Stephen Castelluccio is his real name. He was born on May 3, 1934, to an Italian family. He and his two brothers grew up together.
At age seven, he went to the Paramount Theater in Manhattan, New York City, to see a young Frank Sinatra. He eventually became interested in singing as a profession.
Also, as a solo artist, he has had nine top 40 hits, including the number-one songs “Grease” and “My Eyes Adored You.”
What happened to Frankie Valli and his health?
Frankie Valli was supposed to play at NJPAC on November 19 and 20, 2021, but he had to cancel his tour because he was sick.
Later, the singer posted on Facebook to tell his fans that he had pneumonia and was feeling much better after taking some antibiotics.
At the time, Valli’s doctors also said that he would be able to tour again and would be better in a couple of months.
In his statement, he said, “I am postponing all of my concerts through the end of the year and look forward to rescheduling all of the dates for everyone in 2022.”
Recent news says that Valli will be performing in November and that all of his concerts that were postponed have been moved to 2022.
Frankie Valli’s Health During Concerts and Tour 2022
Frankie Valli’s health is said to be better, and he doesn’t have any illnesses or problems right now.
He will start touring again on May 13, 2022. He has already booked new dates at several venues.
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons have 32 shows planned, and they are currently on tour in two countries.
On August 26, 2022, he will play at the Beau Rivage Theatre in Biloxi, Mississippi Sound.
On the official site of SongKick, you can find Valli’s tour dates and other news. His last show of the year will be on Hard Rock Live on December 10 in Hollywood, Florida, US.
Frontman of the Four Seasons The daughter of Frankie Valli and his wife, Mary Mandel
Mary Mandel was Frankie Valli’s first wife. He married her in 1957. When they first went out together, the singer was in his early 20s.
Before she met Valli, Mary was already a mom to a 2-year-old daughter from her first marriage. Later, the first couple had a child of their own, whom they named Francine.
Valli married Mary, but the marriage didn’t work out, and the two split up in 1971.
In 1980, Valli’s stepdaughter Celia died in a fire escape accident. After six months, his youngest daughter Francine is said to have died from an overdose of heroin.
Valli married MaryAnn Hannagan after he got divorced from Mary, but they broke up after eight years.
In 1984, he married his third wife, Randy Clohessy. They had three sons together. But their marriage didn’t last long, and in 2004, they split up.
Early years
Valli was born Francesco Stephen Castelluccio in the First Ward of Newark, New Jersey, on May 3, 1934. He was the oldest of three sons in an Italian family. Anthony Castelluccio, his father, was a barber and a display designer for Lionel model trains. Mary Rinaldi, his mother, was a housewife and worked for a beer company. At the age of seven, his mother took him to see a young Frank Sinatra sing at the Paramount Theater in Manhattan, New York City. This made him want to become a singer. “Texas” Jean Valli was one of his early favorite singers, and he got his stage name from him. He worked as a barber until he could make enough money from music.
The year Valli was born has been questioned. Valli never talked about the issue himself until a post in 2007 on the Official Frankie Valli Site, which is run by Universal Records, his current record label. A lot of the official information about his career before now said that he was born in 1937. Other sources, like the Bear Family Records release “The Four Lovers” (BCD 15424) and a mug shot from 1965 that can be found on The Smoking Gun, all say that he was born in 1934.
Music career
Valli started singing with the Variety Trio in the early 1950s (Nickie DeVito, Tommy DeVito, and Nick Macioci). Valli’s first wish to sing in public came true when the group invited him to sing with them as a guest after hearing him sing. The Variety Trio broke up at the end of 1952, and Valli and Tommy DeVito joined the house band at The Strand in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Valli, on the other hand, played bass and sang.
In 1953, he released his first single, “My Mother’s Eyes,” which was a cover of a 1929 George Jessel song from Lucky Boy. He did this as “Frankie Valley,” a name he took from a female hillbilly singer named “Texas” Jean Valli. In a 2014 article, it was said, “Frankie said that in 2010, Jean took him to meet music publishers Paul and Dave Kapp and told them he was her brother.” So, his first single was listed as “Frankie Valley,” and the name stuck, even though he changed it to the same spelling in the end.
Around this time, Valli and Tommy DeVito quit The Strand’s house band and joined with Hank Majewski, Frank Cottone, and Billy Thompson to form The Variatones. In 1956, the group auditioned with a female singer and made a good impression on New York record producer Peter Paul. A week later, he sent them to RCA Victor to try out.
The group, now called the Four Lovers, made several singles and an album’s worth of songs. “You’re the Apple of My Eye” was a small hit for them in 1956. Nickie DeVito and Hank Majewski left the group in 1958, and Nick Macioci (now Nick Massi) and Hugh Garrity took their places. Massi came and went from the group, and Charles Calello played accordion from time to time. The group kept going on stage until 1959, when Bob Gaudio joined. After a few more changes, the group was called “The Four Seasons” in 1960. The name came from a cocktail lounge in a bowling alley in Union, New Jersey, where they tried out.
Valli had a string of hits as the lead singer of the Four Seasons, starting with the number-one hit “Sherry” in 1962. Nick Massi was the bassist and vocal arranger for The Four Seasons at this time. In 1965, the group’s instrumental arranger, Charlie Calello, replaced him. Shortly after that, Calello was replaced by Joseph LaBracio, who went by the name Joe Long.
Valli (in the middle of the front row) and the Four Seasons in 1966.
During the 1960s, Gaudio and producer Bob Crewe, who was also one of his songwriting partners at the time, helped Valli make solo recordings that were more or less successful. In the rock and pop world, it was rare for a major recording artist to perform solo instead of with his or her own group. Buddy Holly and the Crickets were an exception, and this may have given other groups and members of other groups permission to follow a similar path. There was a lot of potential for group and solo recordings to top the charts, and Valli, Gaudio, and Crewe sometimes came through with great performances and hits. Valli was the first person to record “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine (Anymore),” which was written by Gaudio and Crewe. The Walker Brothers, an American group based in England, almost copied Valli’s performance note for note when they recorded the song. The version by the Walker Brothers was a huge hit. Valli kept recording solo songs and finally had a big hit with “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” which went to number two on the charts and was covered by a lot of other artists.
Valli’s first album as a solo artist was a collection of singles and a few new recordings. Before Valli’s second solo album came out, a single with “I Make a Fool of Myself” on the A-side came out in July 1967. The record got to number 18 on the charts. Valli’s second solo album, Timeless, was better put together and took more time to record. “To Give (The Reason I Live),” which is on Timeless, was a Top 40 hit.
Valli ended the 1960s with a series of songs that were released as singles or on the Valli/Four Seasons album Half & Half. At this time, “The Girl I’ll Never Know (Angels Never Fly This Low)” was the only song that was a hit, and it got to number 52.
“You’re Ready Now,” a Valli solo song from 1966, became a part of the Northern soul scene and reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart in December 1970. “The Night,” which came out in 1970, was also a huge hit in Northern soul, and in 1975, it was number seven on the UK Singles Chart.
In 1975, his song “My Eyes Adored You” was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number five in the UK. In the same year, he also had a number six Billboard hit with “Swearin’ to God,” which reached number 31 on the UK chart. “Fallen Angel,” written by Guy Fletcher and Doug Flett, also did well on the UK chart. Valli got to number 11 on the UK charts with this song. At the same time, the Four Seasons’ song “Silver Star,” on which Valli did not sing lead, was a hit in the UK.
Valli sang “A Day in the Life” by the Beatles in 1976 for the short-lived musical documentary All This and World War II.
In 1978, he sang the theme song for the movie version of the stage play Grease. It was written by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees and became a number one hit. The next year, he had two more songs that did well on the charts. In November 1978, “Save Me, Save Me” went to number one on the Billboard Easy Listening chart, and in January 1979, “Fancy Dancer” went to number one on the pop charts.
Valli got otosclerosis in 1967, which made it so he had to “sing from memory” by the end of the 1970s. By 1980, Victor Goodhill could hear well again thanks to surgery done by an ear doctor in Los Angeles.