Frankie Valli (born 3 May 1934) in the Italian First Ward of Newark, New Jersey as Francis Stephen Castelluccio) is best known as lead singer of The Four Seasons, one of the biggest music acts of the 1960s, which continued from then to the 1970s disco scene to the present day.
Valli scored over 25 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 in the mid to late 1970s. His best known “solo” single is Can’t Take My Eyes Off You. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with The Four Seasons in 1990.
The Four Seasons (since 1967, known off and on as Frankie Valli & the 4 Seasons - although not shown that way on any of their hit records), is an American pop and rock group from Newark, NJ. They also had a sound somewhat reminiscent of doo-wop, although they were not thought of as a doo wop quartet. By the mid 1960s, The Four Seasons had become an internationally famous rock and roll group.
In 1960, the group known as The Four Lovers evolved into The Four Seasons, with Frankie Valli as the lead singer, Bob Gaudio (formerly of The Royal Teens) on keyboards and tenor vocals, Tommy DeVito on lead guitar and baritone vocals and Nick Massi on bass guitar and bass vocals (Massi was replaced in 1965 by Charles Calello, who was in turn replaced later in 1965 by Joe Long on bass guitar and bass vocals).
Frankie Valli and Tommy DeVito previously performed with Nick DeVito (Tommy’s twin brother) and Hank Majewski as The Four Lovers. The Four Seasons released their first hit, “Sherry,” in 1962. Under the guidance of producer/songwriter Bob Crewe, The Four Seasons followed up “Sherry” with several well-remembered hits, including “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “Dawn”, “Walk Like a Man”, “Candy Girl” and “Save It for Me”. Nick Massi left the Four Seasons in 1965 and was replaced by Joe Long, who became the mainstay on bass and backup vocals until 1976.
