Frankie Valli is an American singer who became renowned for his distinctive falsetto as the lead vocalist of The Four Seasons. The group had a wave of major hits during the 1960s, including “Sherry,” “Walk Like a Man” and “Working My Way Back to You,” while also staging a comeback during the following decade. Valli forged a successful solo career as well with singles like “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,” “My Eyes Adored You” and the title song to the movie-musical Grease. The Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Jersey Boys launched in 2005, telling the story of Valli and The Four Seasons, followed almost a decade later with a movie adaptation directed by Clint Eastwood.
Francesco Stephen Castelluccio was born on May 3, 1934, in Newark, New Jersey to a working-class Italian family. His mother nurtured his love of music at a young age, and he was influenced by jazz, doo-wop and soul, along with artists like The Drifters, Rose Murphy and Frank Sinatra. The young Castelluccio would listen to some of his favorite singers on record at home and then practice what he’d heard. Realizing he needed a stage name, he changed Castelluccio to “Valley” and eventually “Valli,” after friend and country singer Texas Jean Valli.
In 1954, Valli married his first wife Mary Mandel, who had a toddler daughter Celia from a previous marriage. Valli adopted Celia and had two more daughters, Antonia and Francine, with his first wife. The couple split in 1971. Valli was married to his second wife Mary Ann Hannigan from 1974 until 1982. Two years later, he married his third wife Randy Clohessy, and they had three sons together: Francesco and twins Emilio and Brando. He was married to his third wife for 22 years until their divorce in 2004.
Valli has experienced several personal struggles over the years. In 1967, he learned that he was losing his hearing from otosclerosis, hardening of the bone in the middle ear. He suffered from the condition until a surgery in 1980 restored most of his hearing. That year, he also suffered the devastating loss of his daughter Celia in an accident, followed six months later by the death of his youngest daughter Francine from a drug overdose.
