- Bill Medley
Infobox musical artist
Name = Bill Medley
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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = William Thomas Medley
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Born = birth date and age|1940|9|19,
Los Angeles,California ,United States
Died =
Origin =
Instrument = Vocals
Genre =Blue-eyed soul
Occupation =Singer-songwriter
Years_active = 1962 — present
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Associated_acts =The Righteous Brothers ,Bobby Hatfield
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Notable_instruments = |William Thomas "Bill" Medley (born
September 19 1940 ) is an Americansinger andsongwriter , best known as one half ofThe Righteous Brothers singing duo.Biography
Medley was born Los Angeles,
California . He met his singing partnerBobby Hatfield while attending California State University, Long Beach. The pair began singing as a duo in 1962. Their first single was "Little Latin Lupe Lu "; their first hit was "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' ", produced byPhil Spector in 1964. Follow-up hits included "Ebb Tide ", "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration " and "Unchained Melody ".The duo broke up in 1968, but Bill's career didn't end. He continued singing his hit songs with Virgil Beckham singing Bobby Hatfield's part. Some fans of the Righteous Brother's liked this better because Virgil Beckham is more of an all out, soulful singer while also playing lead guitar for the band. Bill returned with another hit in 1974, "Rock And Roll Heaven", and they continued to appear together until Hatfield's death in November 2003. The Righteous Brothers were inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2003 by one of their biggest fans,Billy Joel .Medley also had a moderately successful solo career. In 1968, he released "Peace, Brother, Peace" and "Brown Eyed Woman" both of which were
Top 40 hits on theBillboard Hot 100 chart. He also released several soloalbum s during the 1970s and 1980s. In 1984 and 1985, he charted 5 singles on the country charts with the biggest of these being the Top 20 country hit, "I Still Do". In 1987 his duet withJennifer Warnes , "(I've Had) The Time of My Life ", was included on the "Dirty Dancing"soundtrack album and the single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also won a 1988Grammy Award forBest Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Among his other notable songs are "Most of All You", the closing theme to the movie "Major League"; "Friday Night's A Great Night For Football" fromTony Scott 's movie, "The Last Boy Scout "; and the theme song for the "Growing Pains " spinoff, "Just The Ten of Us".Medley also recorded a vocal track for the song "Lullabye" on
Jimmy Chamberlin 's (ofSmashing Pumpkins fame) solo album "Life Begins Again ", appeared in the two-part episode "Finally!" of the hit TV show "Cheers ", and appeared as a guest singer on "The Late Show " withDavid Letterman , sitting in withPaul Schafer and theCBS Orchestra throughout the night on January 8, 2008.Medley's daughter, McKenna Medley, is herself a singer and as of November 2006 was performing in Branson,
Missouri as opening act for The Comets. [ [http://theoriginalcomets.com/_wsn/page5.html Theoriginalcomets.com] ] Medley's son, Darrin Medley, also sings, and has been performing withPaul Revere & the Raiders . [ [http://www.paulrevereraiders.com/new/pages/band.htm Paulrevereraiders.com] ]Medley currently performs at
Dick Clark 'sAmerican Bandstand Theater in Branson, Missouri.References
External links
* [http://www.righteousbrothers.com/bill.htm Bill Medley biography on The Righteous Brothers website]
* [http://www.ocpavilion.com Bill Medley serves on the Board of Directors of the OC Pavilion]
* [http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/interview_bill_medley.shtml Interview with Bill Medley]
* [http://www.dickclarksabbranson.com Dick Clark's American Bandstand - Branson Homepage]
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