Bobby Vinton

Stanley Robert Vintula, Jr., better known as Bobby Vinton, was a prominent, multi-talented musician and actor. He was born on April 16, 1935 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, the son of a popular Pittsburgh bandleader. At 16 years of age Bobby Vinton formed a band and began playing at various clubs to help finance his college education at Duquesne University, where before graduating with a degree in musical composition, he became proficient in playing the clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, drums and oboe.

Signed to a recording contract with Epic Records, Bobby had his first #1 hit, “Roses Are Red” in 1962, the first of nine gold singles. A year later he would reach the top of the Hit Parade again with “Blue on Blue”, “Blue Velvet” and “There, I’ve said it again”. In 1964, "My Heart Belongs to Only You" and “Mr. Lonely” earned Bobby gold records, as did “Please Love Me Forever” in 1967, “I Love How You Love Me” in 1968 and “My Melody of Love” in 1974, a chart topper with ABC Records.

In the course of his career, Bobby Vinton sold more than 75 million records, appeared in two motion pictures with John Wayne, “Big Jake” and “The Train Robbers” and was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2007 Bobby Vinton became a nominee at the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Today his fans continue to enjoy his performances at the Bobby Vinton Blue Velvet Theatre, a 1600-seat venue at Branson, Missouri.