Who's forcing Frankie Valli to keep touring? The legendary former frontman for The Four Seasons, whose falsetto can be heard on classics like "Sherry," "Walk Like A Man," and of course "December 1963 (Oh What A Night)" is 90 years old at this point, but he's still going strong when it comes to performing. Well, he's still going. I wouldn't exactly say he's going "strong." Videos have been circulating recently of the legendary performer looking pretty rough on stage. He's not only struggling to get around, but he's also clearly lip-synching at this point because his vocals sound exactly the same as they did 50 years ago - and at times he even forgets to move his mouth or hold the microphone up.
It's pretty sad. The internet has compared him to a Chuck E. Cheese animatronic, and questioned why the 90-year old hasn't stepped away and retired, while also wondering whether he's doing it willingly or being forced by somebody to continue to perform when he's pretty clearly not able to. One conspiracy theory making the rounds is that Valli owes money to the mob, and is being forced to perform to pay off his debt even at his advanced age. And The Four Seasons have had ties to the mob in the past. Aside from performing in mafia-controlled clubs as they were coming up in the music industry, the group also had ties to Angelo "Gyp" DeCarlo of the Genovese crime family in New Jersey. According to former Four Seasons keyboard player Bob Guadio, at one point a competing faction of the mafia tied to a former manager claimed they "owned" the band, and when The Four Seasons tried to leave the manger, DeCarlo was reportedly able to "settle" the dispute. So it's no surprise that folks might think the mob is somehow behind Valli continuing to tour when it seems pretty clear he needs to hang it up. But according to the legendary singer, that's not the case. After the videos have gone viral and sparked concern, Valli issued a
statement insisting that he's still enjoying his time on stage and isn't being forced to perform by anybody else:
"I know there has been a lot of stuff on the internet about me lately so I wanted to clear the air. I am blessed to be 90 years old and still be doing what I love to do and as long as I am able, and audiences want to come see me, I am going to be out there performing as I always. I absolutely love what I do. And I know we put on a great show because our fans are still coming out in force and the show still rocks.
How do we do the show?! The Four Seasons sound was always about layering vocals and instruments. We use our 60 years of experience so we sound like the records. I sing, I have singers who sing, great arrangements….everything. I get a chuckle from the comments wondering if someone forcing me to go on stage. Nobody has ever made me do anything I didn’t want to do.
I plan to be doing shows as long as I can, delivering that great Four Seasons sound. Like that line in Jersey Boys, I’m like that bunny on TV, that just keeps going and going and going. Chasing the music." Now, a couple of things about that statement: It doesn't really look like Valli is going to be "chasing" anything or anyone at this point. But also, to claim that he's still singing live when the videos clearly show otherwise? And for his voice to still sound so perfect at 90 years old? Yeah, nobody's buying that so why even say it? I'm not sure that this statement is really going to quiet the speculation that there's not something else going on here.
But hey, if he does decide to finally retire, at least he can still run for president in 4 years.
Local News
