Biography
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Born
3 May 1934 (age 89)
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Born In
Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States
Frankie Valli (born 3 May 1934 in the Italian First Ward of Newark, New Jersey, USA as Francis Stephen Castelluccio) is best known as the lead singer of The Four Seasons. The band was one of the biggest music acts of the 1960s. During his tenure with the group Valli released several albums as a solo artist. His best known solo single is 1967's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You." He also enjoyed a string of hit singles during the disco era, including "My Eyes Adored You" (U.S. #1 in 1974), "Swearin' to God" (U.S. #6 in 1975), and the title track from the film Grease (#1 in 1978).
Valli scored over twenty-five Top-40 hits with The Four Seasons, a handful of Top-40 hits dubbed as a solo act in the late 1960s, one dubbed as The Wonder Who? in 1965, and again as a solo act in the mid to late 1970s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with The Four Seasons in 1990.
Valli started his singing career in 1952. He cut his first single in 1953 as "Frankie Valley" –-a name he adopted from Jean Valley, his favorite female singer. In the mid-1950s he split up with The Travellers and joined The Variety Trio, which consisted of Tommy DeVito, twin brother Nick, and Hank Majewski. They redubbed themselves The Variatones, and later as The Four Lovers. Under this moniker, they scored a Top 40 hit with "You're the Apple of My Eye" in 1956. After a few more name changes, the group finally settled on The Four Seasons in 1960. About the same time, Valli Italianized his name to its current form. Nick DeVito and Majewski left the group in 1960 or 1961. Bob Gaudio and Nick Massi replaced them.
With Valli as its lead singer, The Four Seasons had a series of hits, including five number one singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Their first chart-topper was "Sherry" in 1962. They scored their final number one single in the U.S. in 1975 with "December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)." The song enjoyed a second run on the U.S. charts in 1994 (credited as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons) when a remixed version hit #14 on the Hot 100.
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