Gary Lewis (musician)

Gary Lewis (born Gary Harold Lee Levitch, July 31 1945) is an American musician, who performed in the band Gary Lewis & the Playboys.

His father is film (and later television) comedian Jerry Lewis. His mother, Lori Lewis(formerly Lori Palmer), reportedly intended to name him after her favorite actor Cary Grant but the birth certificate recorded his name as "Gary" instead.

He received a set of drums as a birthday gift in his early teen years. Around 1964, he and four friends formed Gary Lewis & the Playboys. He played the drums and was nominally the lead singer. Following the release of their first single, which had been recorded almost wholly with the instrumental and vocal performances of session musicians, Lewis was Cash Box magazine's 1965 "Male Vocalist of the Year." He was the only artist during the 1960s to have his first seven releases each reach the Top 10 of the Billboard magazine Hot 100 chart. His hits include "This Diamond Ring", "Count Me In" (the only non-British Commonwealth record in Hot 100's Top 10 on 8 May 1965, at #2), "She's Just My Style", and "Everybody Loves a Clown", all of which receive substantial airplay currently on oldies radio stations. He entered the U.S. Army as a draftee in January 1967 and served into 1968. He returned to performing and recording but did not recapture his earlier success and five releases by the band that year peaked from 13th to 39th. His musical career was later marketed as a "nostalgia act" with appearances (continuing as of 2007) on his father's Labor Day Telethons for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Lewis lives far from the limelight nowadays. He and his family reside in the Rochester, New York suburb of Henrietta.