{"id":5482,"date":"2022-04-11T00:31:29","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T00:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drmirkin.com\/?p=5482"},"modified":"2022-04-19T20:50:40","modified_gmt":"2022-04-19T20:50:40","slug":"bobby-rydell-and-the-devastating-effects-of-alcohol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/?p=5482","title":{"rendered":"Bobby Rydell and the Devastating Effects of Alcohol"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bobby Rydell was a rock and roll singer and actor who was a \u201cteen idol\u201d in the 1960s. He recorded 34 Top-40 hit-records and sold more than 25 million records, including Volare, Wild One, We Got Love, Kissin\u2019 Time, Swingin\u2019 School, Wildwood Days<\/em>, and Forget Him<\/em>. In 1963, he starred with Ann Margaret in the musical film, Bye Bye Birdie<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Rydell had a long history of alcohol abuse that destroyed his liver and kidneys. On July 9, 2012, at age 70, he received a life-saving liver and kidney transplant and six months later, he was singing again in Las Vegas. To avoid rejection of his kidney and liver transplants, he had to take drugs to suppress his immune system, and on April 5, 2022, 10 years after his transplants, he died of pneumonia, an infection in his lungs.<\/p>\n

Early Life and Rise to Fame<\/strong>
\nRobert Louis Ridarelli was born in April 1942 into the poor, tough Italian neighborhood of south Philadelphia. He started playing the drums at a very young age and at age nine, he won a TV talent contest and had his first paid performance which led to several years on the local TV Teen Club<\/em>. In 1957, when he was 15, his father lost a part of his middle finger in a work accident and received $3000 as a settlement for the accident. Instead of spending all of the money on himself, his father bought his son a very expensive ($525), oyster-pearl Ludwig drum kit that cost more than all of the furniture in their house.<\/p>\n

Soon afterwards, a band called \u201cRocco and the Saints\u201d was booked to open for the name band at a club in Somers Point, N.J., called Bayshores. The band\u2019s drummer was sick so Frankie Avalon asked Rydell to play the drums and sing a few songs. The bass player for the main band was Frankie Day who liked Rydell and offered to manage his career. He responded, \u201cTalk to my dad.\u201d In 1961 at age 19, he was the youngest performer to headline the Copacabana in New York City and his father resigned from his job after 22 years as a foreman in Philadelphia, to manage his son’s out-of-town engagements. His career continued to thrive, peaking in the 1960s, with recordings, concerts and many appearances in television series  for decades. In the 1980s, he formed a trio called The Golden Boys<\/em> with two other former teenage heart throbs, Frankie Avalon and Fabian Forte, and they continued to tour internationally.
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