- Ronnie Gaylord
Ronnie Gaylord was the name taken by Ronald L. Fredianelli (
June 12 ,1930 -January 25 ,2004 ), a member of The Gaylords, when he began to perform as a solosinger after entering military service in the 1950s.Fredianelli was born in
Detroit, Michigan . He formed the Gaylords (originally The Gay Lords) with Bonaldo Bonaldi and Don Rea in Detroit in 1949. For a while he used the name of Ronnie Vincent before adopting the name Ronnie Gaylord.In the military, he was assigned to Special Services and sang with a military band. He had one hit as Ronnie Gaylord: "Cuddle Me" (1954). (Apparently, he was allowed to release it while still in the service.)
In 1958 he was discharged from the military and rejoined The Gaylords.
In 1976, Bonaldi changed his name to Burt Holiday, at which time the group became Gaylord and Holiday. Rea had left the group by that time.
With his wife Terry, he had five children: three sons (Christopher, Anthony, and Ronald, Jr.) and two daughters (Tiffany and Melissa). Three of his children (Tony, Chris, and Tiffany) went into show business.
He died in
Reno, Nevada .
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