The Four Seasons

The Four Seasons were an American pop and rock band formed in 1960 in Newark, New Jersey. Since 1970, they have also been known at times as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. They are one of the best-selling musical groups of all time, having sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide.The Four Seasons were founded in 1960 when singer Frankie Valli and guitarist Tommy DeVito, the two remaining members of the 1950s novelty act The Four Lovers, joined forces with The Royal Teens keyboardist Bob Gaudio and with Valli's friend, bassist Nick Massi. All four were Italian Americans who hailed from the state of New Jersey. Massi and DeVito left the band in 1965 and 1970 respectively, while Gaudio moved to being a studio-only member in 1972; Valli has remained the group's frontman through its most recent performances in 2026. The band's number one singles are "Sherry" (1962), "Big Girls Don’t Cry" (1962), "Walk Like A Man" (1963), "Rag Doll" (1964), and "December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)" (1976). The Four Seasons are known for their longevity and for Valli's powerful falsetto.The original lineup of the Four Seasons was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999, and the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2017. The Hollywood Walk of Fame awarded a star, jointly credited to Valli and to the group, in 2024.In 1954, Frankie Valli, who had already had a minor hit with his cover of "My Mother's Eyes" a year prior, joined Tommy DeVito's Variety Trio to form The Variatones, a group that rebranded as the Four Lovers, based upon a Latin lover gimmick, in 1956. The band released several singles, the only successful one being "You're the Apple of My Eye" (1956), which peaked at No. 62.In 1959, DeVito revamped the Four Lovers, leaving only himself and Valli. Bob Gaudio left The Royal Teens and became the group's keyboardist. In 1960, Nick Massi--at the time, frontman for the Nite-Lites and a mentor of Valli's who had occasionally played with Valli and DeVito throughout the 1950s--joined the band, which by this point was performing and recording under several aliases. In 1960, the quartet failed an audition for a lounge at a Union Township, Union County, New Jersey bowling establishment. According to Gaudio, "We figured we'll come out of this with something. So we took the name of the bowling alley. It was called the Four Seasons."

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.