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Frankie Lymon (September 30, 1942 – February 28, 1968) was the leader of a New York City-based early rock and roll group called The Teenagers. The group included five boys, all in their early-to-mid teens, originally consisting of three black and two Hispanic members.
The group released their debut single, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", to considerable success. A Top 40 success at age 13, Lymon was perhaps the first African-American teen idol. After several hits, including "I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent", "I Want You to Be My Girl", and "Baby, Baby", Lymon's manager attempted to turn him into a solo artist, leaving his old friends in the group behind in London at their London Palladium tour. Neither Lymon's solo career nor the group's attempts to carry on were successful.
Born in Harlem, New York, Lymon was credited as songwriter on "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", but his authorship was disputed. In December 1992, the United States federal court ruled that Herman Santiago and Jimmy Merchant, original members of the group, were co-authors of the song. However, in 1996 the ruling was reversed by the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit (on the basis of the statute of limitations), and authorship of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" currently remains in the names of Frankie Lymon and Morris Levy, not Herman Santiago and Jimmy Merchant *.
Lymon died of a drug overdose in 1968. The film Why Do Fools Fall in Love is a fictionalized version of his story, told from the point of view of three of his ex-wives jousting over royalties from the title song, which was released in a cover version by Diana Ross in the 1980s and became a hit all over again. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2000.
External links
- http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=146
- http://www.geocities.com/shakin_stacks/frankielymon.txt
- http://history-of-rock.com/lymon.htm
- Frankie Lymon's Gravesite
1942 births | 1968 deaths | Accidental deaths | Doo wop groups | Drug-related deaths | Entertainers who died in their 20s | People from Manhattan | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees
"Frankie Lymon"