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 Four Seasons. His unique, powerful falsetto voice 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 the age of seven he went to the Paramount Theater in Manhattan, New York City to see young Frank Sinatra. Eventually he became interested in singing as a career.
He’s also had nine top 40 hits as a solo artist, including number ones “Grease” and “My Eyes Adored You.”
What happened to Frankie Valli and his health?
Frankie Valli was scheduled to play at NJPAC on November 19-20, 2021 but had to cancel his tour due to illness.
The singer later posted on Facebook to let his fans know he had pneumonia and was feeling much better after taking antibiotics.
At the time, Valli’s doctors also said he was ready to tour again and would be better in a few months.
In his statement, he said: “I am postponing all my concerts to the end of the year and look forward to rescheduling all dates for everyone in 2022.”
According to recent news, Valli will be performing in November and all of his postponed concerts have been pushed back to 2022.
Frankie Valli’s health during concerts and tour 2022
Frankie Valli’s health is said to have improved and he currently has no illnesses or problems.
He will be back on tour on May 13, 2022. He has already booked new dates in several places.
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons have 32 shows planned and are currently touring in two countries.
On August 26, 2022 he will play at the Beau Rivage Theater in Biloxi, Mississippi Sound.
Check out the official SongKick site for Valli’s tour dates and other news. His final show of the year will be on December 10th on Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida, USA.
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 started dating, the singer was in his early 20s.
Before she met Valli, Mary was already the mother of a 2-year-old daughter from her first marriage. Later, the first couple had a child of their own, who they named Francine.
Valli married Mary, but the marriage didn’t work out and the two separated 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 of a heroin overdose.
Valli married MaryAnn Hannagan after he divorced Mary, but they separated 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 separated.
early years
Valli was born Francesco Stephen Castelluccio on May 3, 1934 in the First Ward of Newark, New Jersey. He was the eldest of three sons of an Italian family. Anthony Castelluccio, his father, was a hairdresser and display designer for Lionel model trains. Mary Rinaldi, his mother, was a homemaker 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 led him to become a singer. “Texas” Jean Valli was one of his favorite early singers, and it was from him that he got his stage name. He worked as a hairdresser until he could earn enough money with music.
The year Valli was born has been questioned. Valli never spoke on the subject himself until 2007, when he made a post on the official Frankie Valli site, operated by Universal Records, his current record label. Much official information about his career stated that he was born in 1937. Other sources, such as the Bear Family Records release “The Four Lovers” (BCD 15424) and a 1965 mugshot found on The Smoking Gun, all say he was born in 1934.
music career
Valli began singing with the Variety Trio (Nickie DeVito, Tommy DeVito, and Nick Macioci) in the early 1950s. 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 in late 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 by Lucky Boy. He did so as “Frankie Valley,” a name he took from a hillbilly female singer named “Texas” Jean Valli. According to a 2014 article, “Frankie said Jean took him to meet music publishers Paul and Dave Kapp in 2010 and told them he was her brother.” So his first single was dubbed “Frankie Valley.” listed, and the name stuck, although he ended up changing it to the same spelling.
Around this time, Valli and Tommy DeVito left The Strand’s house band and joined forces 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 Four Lovers, made several singles and an album’s worth of songs. “You’re the Apple of My Eye” was a minor hit for her 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 the accordion from time to time. The group remained on the stage until 1959 when Bob Gaudio joined them. After a few more changes, the group was called The Four Seasons in 1960. The name came from a cocktail lounge at 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, beginning with the number one hit “Sherry” in 1962. Nick Massi was bassist and vocal arranger for The Four Seasons at the time. In 1965 he was replaced by the group’s instrumental arranger, Charlie Calello. Shortly thereafter, Calello was replaced by Joseph LaBracio, who went by the name Joe Long.
Valli (center, 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, which were more or less successful. In the rock and pop world, it was rare for a major recording artist to perform solo rather than with his or her own group. Buddy Holly and the Crickets was an exception and this may have given permission for other groups and members of other groups to follow a similar path. There was plenty 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), 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 Walker Brothers’ version was a smash hit. Valli continued to record solo songs and eventually landed a big hit with “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” which debuted at number two and was covered by many other artists.
Valli’s first album as a solo artist was a collection of singles and some new recordings. Before Valli’s second solo album was released, a single with “I Make a Fool of Myself” on the A-side was released in July 1967. The album peaked at 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 runs on Timeless, was a Top 40 hit.
Valli ended the 1960s with a string of songs released as singles or on the Valli/Four Seasons album Half & Half. At the time, “The Girl I’ll Never Know (Angels Never Fly This Low)” was the only song to be a hit, and it peaked at number 52.
“You’re Ready Now”, a 1966 solo Valli song, burst onto the Northern Soul scene, peaking at number 11 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1970. “The Night”, released in 1970, was also a hit – a smash hit in Northern Soul and peaked at number seven in the UK Singles Chart in 1975.
In 1975 his song “My Eyes Adored You” was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number five in the UK. He also had a number 6 Billboard hit with “Swearin’ to God” that same year, which reached #31 in the UK charts. “Fallen Angel”, written by Guy Fletcher and Doug Flett, also did well on the UK charts. With this song, Valli reached number 11 in the UK charts. At the same time, the Four Seasons song “Silver Star”, on which Valli did not play the leading role, was a hit in the UK.
Valli sang “A Day in the Life” by The Beatles for the short-lived music documentary All This and World War II in 1976.
In 1978 he sang the theme song for the film 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” peaked at number one on the Billboard Easy Listening chart, and in January 1979, “Fancy Dancer” peaked at number one on the pop chart.
Valli contracted otosclerosis in 1967, resulting in him having to “sing by heart” in the late 1970s. In 1980, Victor Goodhill regained his hearing thanks to an operation performed by an audiologist in Los Angeles.