Robert Louis Ridarelli (April 26, 1942 – April 5, 2022), known by the stage name Bobby Rydell ( ry-DEL), was an American singer and actor who mainly performed rock and roll and traditional pop music. In the early 1960s, he was considered a teen idol. His best-known songs include "Wildwood Days", "Wild One" and "Volare" (cover of an Italian song by Domenico Modugno, "Nel blu, dipinto di blu”); in 1963 he appeared in the musical film Bye Bye Birdie.
In the 1980s, he joined a trio called The Golden Boys, with fellow former teen idols Frankie Avalon and Fabian Forte. He continued to tour up until his death in 2022.
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Early life
Rydell was born on April 26, 1942 and was the son of Jennie Ridarelli (née Sapienza) and Adrio "Al" Ridarelli. Both of his parents were of Italian descent. He grew up in the Lower Moyamensing neighborhood of South Philadelphia.
As a child, he mimicked the singers he saw on television, and at the age of seven his father took him around the clubs of Philadelphia, asking if he could sing and do some impersonations. By the time he was eight, his reputation led to an appearance on a talent show on the national television series,TV Teen Club. He won the contest, and the show's presenter, Paul Whiteman, recruited him into the cast, where he remained for several years. It was here that his name was anglicised to Bobby Rydell.
Career
Rydell played in several bands in the Philadelphia area. As a 14-year-old he was the drummer for the Emanons (NoName spelled backward) which included his childhood friend Pat Azzara on guitar. Azzara later assumed the stage name Pat Martino, and went on to achieve recognition as one of the preeminent jazz guitarists of all time. Another band was Rocco and the Saints, in which he sang and played drums. After releasing three unsuccessful singles for small companies, he signed a recording contract with Cameo Records. This was run by Bernie Lowe, who had been the pianist accompanying him on TV Teen Club. After a couple of flops, "Kissin' Time" made the charts in 1959. In May 1960, Rydell toured Australia with The Everly Brothers, Billy "Crash" Craddock, Marv Johnson, The Champs, The Crickets, and Lonnie Lee.
His second success was "We Got Love". The album of the same name, his first, sold a million copies and obtained gold disc status. "Wild One" was followed with "Little Bitty Girl" which was his second million-selling single. He continued releasing hit songs with "Swingin' School" backed by "Ding-A-Ling" and "Volare" later in 1960, which also sold over a million copies. It is estimated he sold over 25 million records in total.
In 1961, he performed at the Copacabana in New York City, where he was the youngest performer to headline at the nightclub. In February 1961, he appeared at the Festival du Rock at the Palais des Sports de Paris in Paris, France.
Rydell's success and prospects led his father, Adrio, a foreman at the Electro-Nite Carbon Company in Philadelphia, to resign in 1961 after 22 years to become his son's road manager.
In 1963, Rydell released the song "Wildwood Days", which reached Number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and remained there for nine weeks. A mural on the Wildwood, New Jersey, boardwalk, painted in 2014, honors Rydell, whose song placed the community in the national spotlight.
That same year, Rydell portrayed Hugo Peabody in the film version of Bye Bye Birdie, also starring Ann-Margret and Dick Van Dyke. The original stage production of Bye Bye Birdie had no real singing role for the character of Hugo, but the movie script was rewritten specifically to expand the part for Rydell. In 2011, Sony Pictures digitally restored the film. Rydell and Ann-Margret were in attendance at the restoration premiere in Beverly Hills, hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Personal life
Rydell was married to his first wife, Camille Quattrone Ridarelli, for 35 years, from 1968 until her death in 2003. They had two children. He married Linda Hoffman in 2009. Rydell was a longtime resident of Penn Valley, Pennsylvania, and lived in the same house from 1963 to 2019 before he resided in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania until his death.
Rydell served in the U.S. National Guard, and began his service in 1964 with two months of basic training at Fort Dix.
The street on which he was born in Philadelphia was renamed Bobby Rydell Boulevard, in his honor. In 2023, it was announced that a statue of Rydell would be erected in Wildwood, New Jersey, through the Bobby Rydell Foundation organized by his family.
Health and death
Rydell cancelled a 2012 Australia tour because his health had deteriorated significantly and he was in need of urgent major surgery. On July 9, 2012, he underwent a double organ transplant, to replace his liver and one kidney, at Thomas Jefferson University in his hometown of Philadelphia. In January 2013, six months after the double transplant surgery, Rydell returned to the stage in Las Vegas for a three-night engagement to a sold-out audience. He continued to perform internationally and returned to tour Australia in 2014.
Rydell died from complications of pneumonia at Jefferson Abington Hospital on April 5, 2022, three weeks before his 80th birthday.
Media
In the Broadway musical drama Grease, its film adaptation, and the film's sequel Grease 2, the high school was named "Rydell High" after Rydell.
In 2000, in the book The Beatles Anthology (p. 96), Paul McCartney said: John [Lennon] and I wrote "She Loves You" together. There was a Bobby Rydell song out at the time and, as often happens, you think of one song when you write another. We'd planned an "answering song" where a couple of us would sing "she loves you" and the other ones would answer "yeah yeah". We decided that was a crummy idea but at least we then had the idea of a song called "She Loves You". So we sat in the hotel bedroom for a few hours and wrote it—John and I, sitting on twin beds with guitars.
No specific song title is given in The Beatles Anthology, but Bob Spitz writes in The Beatles: The Biography that McCartney originally modeled "She Loves You" on the Rydell "answering song" called "Swingin' School", and not "Forget Him", as is commonly cited.
In the Oscar-winning film Green Book (2018), Rydell is portrayed in the opening scenes by actor Von Lewis.
Singles discography
† Chubby Checker and Bobby Rydell
b/w = "backed with"
Selected filmography
Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
Combat!: The Duel (1964)
Marco Polo Junior Versus the Red Dragon (1972)
That Lady from Peking (1975)
Mr. Rock 'n' Roll: The Alan Freed Story (1999)
Bibliography
Rydell, Bobby (2016). Bobby Rydell: Teen Idol on the Rocks. With Allan Slutsky. Doctor Licks Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9973851-0-6.