April 6, 2022 – Bobby Rydell

Sad news from the music world, 1960s teen idol Bobby Rydell passed away yesterday at the age of 79. He grew up in South Philadelphia, and starting playing drums and singing when he was 6 years old. He won a talent show in 1950 and appeared on a TV show called Paul Whiteman’s TV Teen Club, where he was on the cast for several years. His first single to make the charts was “Kissin’ Time” in 1959. Over the course of his career, he had 34 Top 100 hits and more than 25 million album sales.
In 1961, he played Hugo Peabody in the movie Bye Bye Birdie with Ann-Margaret and Dick Van Dyke. The Broadway production had no real speaking parts for the character, but the script was rewritten specifically to expand the part for Rydell.
In the Broadway show Grease and its film adaptations, the high school, Rydell High, was named for Rydell. He continued to tour, in recent years with Frankie Avalon and Fabian as The Golden Boys. Learn more here.