102 | 24 September 2023
Bobby Lewis | 15029
Rock and roll and R&B singer Robert Alan “Bobby” Lewis was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on February 9, 1925. He was brought up in an orphanage. Despite poor eyesight, he learned to play the piano age 6. He was adopted when 12 years old and moved to Detroit, but ran away two years later. Originally he performed in Carnival shows before landing a regular job as singer for the Leo Hines Orchestra in Indianapolis. He moved to New York in 1960. In 1980 he told an interviewer that he lived in Newark, New Jersey and was almost blind.
Bobby Lewis died from pneumonia on 28 April, 2020, age 95.
“Tossing and Turning” (Beltone 45-1002, 1961) is his signature song and biggest hit. A million selling record, it was first released in the UK on EMI Parlophone 45-R 4794, June 1961, and was later re-released in the UK on Sue ILP 933 The Sue Story Volume 2. Chart Position: R&B No. 1 and Pop No. 1, 1961.
Sue Records UK 