His death just days before his 80th birthday was confirmed by radio legend Jerry Blavat, Ridel’s longtime friend on the singer’s sidewalks in South Philadelphia. “Of all the kids,” Blavat said at the time, “he had the best blowjobs and was the biggest entertainer. He told the best stories, he made the best forgeries and he was the most handsome guy. “ Riddle’s reputation as the epitome of an American teen pop star in the days just before the British invasion of rock was such that Riddle High School in the Broadway musical and subsequent film “Grease” took its name. An actor also portrayed him in a scene in the movie “Green Book”. “It was so nice to know that high school [in ‘Grease’] he took my name, “he said. “And I said, ‘Why me?’ It could be Anka High, Presley High, Everly High, Fabian High, Avalon High. And they found Rydell High, and once again, an absolute honor. “ The singer had 34 singles charts on the Billboard Hot 100, the best of which include “Wild One”, which reached No. 2, and “Volare”, a No. 4 hit. Other top 10 songs included “Swingin ‘School”, “The Cha-Cha-Cha”. His series of top 10 songs started with “We Got Love”, which reached No. 6 in 1959 and ended with “Forget Him” in 1964. Portraits of Bobby Rydell at home in Bryn Mawr, Pa on April 18, 2016 MediaPunch One of his first hits, “Wildwood Days”, reached No. 17 in 1963, but continues to be an anthem in the New Jersey area for which it was named. A Rydell mural adorns Wildwood Pedestrian Street, NJ. In a 2020 interview, Rydell recalled how his role in “Bye Bye Birdie” expanded once he was cast. “I go to see the play, and I look at Hugo Peabody, and he does not sing, there are no lines, there is no dance, he just stood there. But, when I went out to start filming, Mr. (Sid) Sidney saw some kind of magic between Ann-Margret and myself, and every day I went back to Columbia Studios, my script was getting bigger and bigger. More dialogue, more singing, more dancing. And I’m not a movie star by my imagination, but if I had to be in a picture, it’s a classic, like Grease. And I’m really happy to be doing something so wonderful. “ Born Robert Louis Ridarelli on April 26, 1942, Rydell began singing and playing drums at the age of 6 and at the age of 7 began playing professionally in nightclubs in the Philly / South Jersey area at the urging of his father. In 1950, Rydell won a talent show during the television series “Paul Whiteman’s TV Teen Club” and became a regular on the program. After three years as a member of Whiteman’s on-air song, the singer / drummer changed his name to “Rydell” and began playing for local bands such as Rocco and the Saints (an ensemble that also featured another friend of South Philly, Frankie Avalon, as his trumpeter). After trying his luck with a handful of failed singles for small, independent record labels, Rydell signed with Philadelphia’s Cameo Records (eventually Cameo / Parkway) and reached the charts with “Kissin ‘Time” in 1959. With this single and Following his ups, “We Got Love” (his first millionaire), “Wild One”, “Swingin ‘” and his view of the classic “Volare”, Rydell became a trusted teen idol. Ann-Margret, right, and Bobby Rydell dance during a scene from “Bye Bye Birdie” on the set of the film in Hollywood, Ca., September 14, 1962. It was the first film for actor-singer Bobby, 20 years, and the second for actress Ann-Margret, 21. (AP Photo) ASSOCIATED PRESS By 1961, when Rydell presented a show at Copacabana, New York, in 1961, Rydell had become the youngest artist to ever make headlines at the famous nightclub, consolidating his position with Rat Pack fans and teenagers. (In 1961, he also appeared at the Festival du Rock, at the Palais des Sports de Paris in Paris, France, a fact that established his relationship with the European and British public for which he would star in cabaret concerts to this day). In 1963 he played the role of Hugo Peabody in the film version of the satirical musical “Bye Bye Birdie” with Ann-Margret and Dick Van Dyke. His part was not that of the titular rock star, but the jealous friend of the girl who wins the opportunity to meet Birdie before going to the army. In 2011, “Bye Bye Birdie” received digital restoration and Rydell appeared with Ann-Margret in a special screening of the Academy at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater (see video below). Until next year, Rydell would leave Cameo-Parkway Records for Capitol Records, the same record that soon saw his Beatles rivals appear. In the late 1960s, he moved to Reprise, where he had little success. “Sir. Sinatra wanted me on the Reprise label, so of course I said yes, but there was no promotion,” Riddle told Goldmine. Giving their popularity to all sorts of rubbish, Rydell, Avalon and the rest of the teen idol crew became salon singers in Las Vegas and on the international touring track. After 1965, Rydell never re-entered the Billboard Hot 100, although he continued to release singles until the mid-1970s and one of his last songs, a number one disco called “Sway” in 1977, made a moderate dentition in modern adults. chart. Rydell wrote a memoir, “Bobby Rydell: Teen Idol on the Rocks: A Tale of Second Chances.” The subtitle “on the rocks” referred to a battle with alcoholism after the death of his 36-year-old wife from breast cancer in 2003. “There was a huge gap in my life and with no one lying in bed, no one talking, no one smiling, no one laughing, no one telling stories,” he said in an interview with Morning Call when the book was released. in 2016. “And, you know, I came back to drink. And vodka became a very, very dear friend – to the point that, a few years later, it led to a double transplant. A new liver and a new kidney, because of all the drinks. . I hope many people who probably have the same problem will learn from the book. There are several people who, when writing the review, said: “I wish he had explained more about his alcoholism.” “Well, maybe this is another book, if God cares.” After marrying his second wife, Linda, he underwent a double transplant in 2012. In early July of that year, he said, “My wife and I were lying in bed, and I told her, ‘Listen, sweetheart, we’d better pick it all up because I wouldn’t make it.’ And είχε he told me a couple of days ago, he said, ‘If you’re ever going to have a liver, it’s going to happen around this time of year – the fourth of July, you know, hit-and-run, DUI, accidents, and so on. , so on. And unfortunately, a young girl from Reading, Pennsylvania, Julia – she was just 21 years old, hit by a car. And he became my donor. And not only did he save my life, he saved seven more. And I am [blood type] O-positive, which means I can give to anyone, but I can only get O-positive, and Julia was O-positive. It was a miracle the way things were done. It really was. “ Rydell has toured solo to date and has been part of the Golden Boys stage production since 1985 with Frankie Avalon and Fabian. The three “idols” were preparing a spring and summer tour for 2022. In a 2020 interview, Rydell talked about the three endurance as a tour. “Now we’re doing a show, I’m sure you know, called ‘The Golden Boys,’ and we started that show in 1985, and it was a huge success,” he said. “And I said to Frank – and I called him Cheech, because in Italian, Frank is Cheech – I said, ‘Cheech, that’s great, but how long will it take?’ One year, two years of peaks, is over “. Well, that was in 1985, and we’re going on in 2021, and we’re going to do the show. It’s amazing.” In his 2016 interview with Morning Call, Rydell expressed little remorse for how his career had gone. “It will be six decades since, my God, in 1959, when I made my first success. And I am so happy and blessed to be able to do, once again, what I truly love. And it’s my life, once again, since I was 7 years old. So, no, I’m not complaining about my career at all. You know, it had its ups and downs, its peaks and its valleys, so on, so on. But I’ve survived all that, and I continue to do what I really enjoy doing. “At 74, I do not think I’m a teenager anymore. I mean, the followers are still there, God bless them. I mean, they go out and I guess they remember in the 50’s how wonderful everything was. It was really like the TV show “Happy Days”. … And I think all the fans who still go out on the show, remember it and want to think about those particular years where, yes, Bobby Rydell was an idol of adolescence. And that’s nice to have after so many years. “
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