Editing Frankie Lymon (section)

==Biography==
===1942–56: Early life/joining the Teenagers===
[[File:Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers.jpg|thumb|Frankie Lymon (center) and the Teenagers|left]]
Franklin Joseph Lymon was born in [[Washington Heights, Manhattan|Washington Heights]], New York City,<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Bogdanov|first1=Vladimir|last2=Erlewine|first2=Stephen Thomas |last3=Woodstra|first3=Chris |title=All Music Guide To Rock: The Definitive Guide To Rock, Pop, and Soul|edition=3|year=2002|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=0-87930-653-X|page=680}}</ref> on September 30, 1942, to Jeanette and Howard Lymon. Howard was a truck driver and Jeanette was a maid. Both also sang in the gospel group the Harlemaires; Frankie and his brothers, Lewis and Howie, sang with the Harlemaire Juniors (a fourth brother, Timmy, was also a singer, though not with the Harlemaire Juniors). The Lymons struggled to make ends meet, so Lymon began working as a grocery boy at age 10. Lymon was {{Height|ft=4|in=10|abbr=yes}} as a child, and he was {{Height|ft=5|in=5|abbr=yes}} as a adult.

At age 12 in 1954, Lymon heard a local [[doo-wop]] group known as the Coupe De Villes at a school talent show. He became friends with the lead singer [[Herman Santiago]], and eventually became a member of the group, now calling itself both the Ermines and the Premiers. One day in 1955, a neighbor gave the Premiers several love letters that had been written to him by his girlfriend, hoping to give the boys inspiration to write their own songs. [[Jimmy Merchant]] and Santiago adapted one of the letters into a song called "Why Do Fools Fall in Love". The Premiers, now calling themselves the Teenagers, got their first shot at fame after impressing [[Richard Barrett (musician)|Richard Barrett]], a singer with [[The Valentines (doo-wop band)|the Valentines]]. Barrett, in turn, got the group an audition with record producer [[George Goldner]]. On the day of the group's audition, original lead singer Santiago was late. Lymon stepped up and told Goldner that he knew the part because he helped write the song. The disc jockeys always called them "Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers".{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

===1956: "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" success===
Goldner signed the group to [[Gee Records]], and "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" became its first single in January 1956. The single peaked at No. 6 on the ''[[Billboard magazine|Billboard]]'' [[Hot 100|pop singles chart]], and topped the ''Billboard'' [[R&B singles chart]] for five weeks. Four other top 10 R&B singles followed over the next year or so: "[[I Want You to Be My Girl]]", "[[I Promise to Remember]]", "[[Who Can Explain?]]" (the B side of "[[I Promise to Remember]]" but which charted on its own), "[[The ABC's of Love]]", and "[[I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent]]". "I Want You To Be My Girl" gave the band its second pop hit, reaching No. 13 on the national Billboard Hot 100 chart. "[[Goody Goody]]" (written by Matty Malneck and Johnny Mercer and originally performed by Benny Goodman) was a No. 20 pop hit but did not appear on the R&B chart. The Teenagers placed two other singles in the lower half of the pop chart. With the release of "I Want You To Be My Girl", the group's second single, the Teenagers became Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers. However, the album that mostly compiled the singles released in 1956 came out under the older name: ''[[The Teenagers Featuring Frankie Lymon]]''.

===1957–65: Solo career===
In early 1957, Lymon and the Teenagers broke up while on a tour in Europe. During an engagement at the [[London Palladium]], Goldner began pushing Lymon as a solo act, giving him solo spots in the show. Lymon began performing with backing from pre-recorded tapes. The group's last single, "[[Goody Goody]]" backed with "Creation of Love," initially retained the "Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers" credit, but they were actually solo recordings (with backing by session singers). Lymon had officially departed from the group by September 1957; an in-progress studio album called ''Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers at the London Palladium'' was instead issued as a Lymon solo release.

As a solo artist, Lymon was not nearly as successful as he had been with the Teenagers. Beginning with his second solo release, "My Girl", Lymon had moved to [[Roulette Records]]. On a July 19, 1957, episode of [[Alan Freed]]'s live [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] TV show ''[[The Big Beat (TV program)|The Big Beat]]'', Lymon began dancing with a white teenage girl while performing. His actions caused a scandal, particularly among Southern TV station owners, and ''The Big Beat'' was subsequently canceled.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/moondogs-final-sign-off-on-alan-reed-1421710119 |title=Moondog's Final Sign Off |date=January 20, 2021 |work=WSJ |access-date=February 4, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17440514 |title=How the world's first rock concert ended in chaos |date=March 21, 2012 |work=BBC News |access-date=February 4, 2021}}</ref>

Lymon's slowly declining sales fell sharply in the early 1960s. His highest-charting solo hit was a cover of [[Bobby Day]]'s "[[Little Bitty Pretty One]]", which peaked at No. 58 on the Hot 100 pop chart in 1960 and which had been recorded in 1957. Addicted to [[heroin]] since the age of 15, Lymon fell further into his habit, and his performing career went into decline. According to Lymon in an interview with ''[[Ebony (magazine)|Ebony]]'' magazine in 1967, he was first introduced to heroin at age 15 by a woman twice his age.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Peters|first=Art|date=January 1967|title=Comeback of a Child Star|magazine=Ebony|volume=22|issue=3|pages=43|issn=0012-9011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6iZkedjSfZoC&q=frankie+lymon+heroin&pg=PA42}}</ref> In 1961, Roulette, now run by [[Morris Levy]], ended their contract with Lymon and he entered a [[drug rehabilitation]] program. After losing Lymon, the Teenagers went through a string of replacement singers, the first of whom was Billy Lobrano. In 1960, Howard Kenny Bobo sang lead on "Tonight's the Night" with the Teenagers; later that year, Johnny Houston sang lead on two songs. The Teenagers, who had been moved by Morris Levy to End Records, were released from their contract in 1961. The Teenagers briefly reunited with Lymon in 1965, without success.

===1966–68: Later years===
Over the next four years, Lymon struggled through short-lived deals with [[20th Century Fox Records]] and [[Columbia Records]]. He began a relationship with Elizabeth Mickey Waters, who became his first wife in January 1964 and gave birth to his only child, a baby girl named Francine who died two days after birth at Lenox Hill Hospital.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LcIDAAAAMBAJ&q=Frankie+Lymon+and+child+Jet+1963&pg=PA63 |title= New York Beat |date=September 17, 2011 |work= Jet Magazine |publisher= Johnson Publishing Co.}}</ref> Lymon's marriage to Waters was not legal because she was still married to her first husband at the time. After the marriage failed, Lymon moved to [[Los Angeles]] in the mid-1960s, where he began a romantic relationship with [[Zola Taylor]], a member of the Platters. Taylor claimed to have married Lymon in [[Mexico]] in 1965<ref name="ebony">{{Cite magazine|last=Bennett Kinnon|first=Joy |date=December 1998|title=The Real Story of ''Why Do Fools Fall In Love''|magazine=Ebony|volume=54|issue=2|pages=70|issn=0012-9011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jXsbJEgguzIC&q=frankie+lymon+heroin&pg=PA68}}</ref> although their relationship ended several months later, purportedly because of Lymon's drug habits. However, Lymon had been known to say that their marriage was a publicity stunt, and Taylor could produce no legal documentation of their marriage. In Major Robinson's gossip column of June 6, 1966, Zola said the whole thing was a joke that she went along with at the time (October 1965).<ref>Robinson, Major (June 6, 1966) ''The Pittsburgh Courier''</ref>

Lymon appeared at the Apollo as part of a revue, adding an extended tap dance number. He recorded several live performances (such as "Melinda" in 1959), but none rose on the charts. Lymon's final television performance was on ''[[Hollywood a Go-Go]]'' in 1965, where he [[lip-synch]]ed to the recording of his 13-year-old self singing "Why Do Fools Fall in Love". On June 21, 1966, Lymon was arrested on a heroin charge and was drafted into the [[United States Army]] in lieu of a jail sentence.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://history-of-rock.com/lymon.htm|title=Frankie Lymon|website=History-of-rock.com}}</ref> He reported to [[Fort Gordon, Georgia]], near [[Augusta, Georgia]], for training.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} While in the Augusta area, Lymon met and fell in love with Emira Eagle, a schoolteacher at Hornsby Elementary in Augusta. The two were wed in June 1967, and Lymon repeatedly went [[AWOL]] to secure gigs at small Southern clubs. [[dishonorable discharge|Dishonorably discharged]] from the Army,{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} Lymon moved into his wife's home and continued to perform sporadically. Traveling to New York in 1968, Lymon was signed by manager Sam Bray to his Big Apple label, and the singer returned to recording. [[Roulette Records]] expressed interest in releasing Lymon's records in conjunction with Big Apple and scheduled a recording session for February 28. A major promotion had been arranged with CHO Associates, owned by radio personalities Frankie Crocker, Herb Hamlett, and Eddie O'Jay. Lymon, staying at his grandmother's apartment in [[Harlem]], where he had grown up, celebrated his good fortune by taking [[heroin]]; Lymon had remained clean ever since entering the Army two years earlier.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}