Working with a variety of acts and as a solo artist from the mid-1950s to early 1960s with limited success, Valli eventually came to be with the group that, in 1961, would be known as The Four Seasons.
Realizing he needed a stage name, he changed Castelluccio to “Valley” and eventually “Valli,” after friend and country singer Texas Jean Valli. The young Castelluccio would listen to some of his favorite singers on record at home and then practice what he’d heard. His mother nurtured his love of music at a young age, and he was influenced by jazz, doo-wop and soul, along with artists like The Drifters, Rose Murphy and Frank Sinatra. Background and Early Careerįrancesco Stephen Castelluccio was born on May 3, 1934, in Newark, New Jersey to a working-class Italian family. The Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Jersey Boys launched in 2005, telling the story of Valli and The Four Seasons, followed almost a decade later with a movie adaptation directed by Clint Eastwood. Valli forged a successful solo career as well with singles like “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,” “My Eyes Adored You” and the title song to the movie-musical Grease.
The group had a wave of major hits during the 1960s, including “Sherry,” “Walk Like a Man” and “Working My Way Back to You,” while also staging a comeback during the following decade. Frankie Valli is an American singer who became renowned for his distinctive falsetto as the lead vocalist of The Four Seasons.
