Photo: Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme | By Mark Kennedy, Associated Press | (AP) Steve Lawrence, a singer and top stage act who as a solo performer and in tandem with his wife Eydie Gorme kept Tin Pan Alley alive during the rock era, died Thursday. He was 88.
Lawrence, whose hits included “Go Away Little Girl,” died from complications due to Alzheimer’s disease, said Susan DuBow, a spokesperson for the family.
Lawrence and Gorme — or Steve & Eydie — were known for their frequent appearances on talk shows, in night clubs and on the stages of Las Vegas. The duo took inspiration from George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and other songwriters.
Soon after Elvis Presley and other rock music pioneers began to dominate radio and records, Lawrence and his wife were approached about changing their style.
“We had a chance to get in on the ground floor of rock ‘n’ roll,” he recalled in a 1989 interview. “It was 1957 and everything was changing, but I wanted to be Sinatra, not Rick Nelson.
“Our audience knows we’re not going to load up on heavy metal or set fire to the drummer — although on some nights we’ve talked about it,” he joked.
Although Lawrence and Gorme were best known as a team, both also had huge solo hits just months apart in the early 1960s.
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Read more of this loving tribute here:
https://apnews.com/article/steve-lawrence-dead-eydie-steve-0d5716adcf8a4fd0a96f3f12854212d5
This report contains biographical material compiled by former AP reporter Bob Thomas
Photo: Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme | From a fan’s Facebook page
Steve Lawrence, Singer, Entertainer and Half of Popular Stage Duo Steve & Eydie, Dies at 88
