American singer and actor Bobby Rydell has died. He died on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at the age of 79.
Bobby, who mainly performed rock and roll music, was considered a teen idol in the early 1960s.
His most well-known songs include Wild One and Volare, and he appeared in the movie Bye Bye Birdie in 1963.
He toured as part of The Golden Boys stage production with Frankie Avalon and Fabian, and he was easily the most talented singer among the trio of teen idols.
Bobby is most notably a role in the movie version of Bye Bye Birdie with Ann-Margret and Dick Van Dyke.
Was Bobby Rydell an alcoholic?
In 2016, he disclosed in his autobiography that he was an alcoholic.
He said the casino and club life also started his long battle with alcohol, starting with frequent after-show drinks.
Speaking about his fight with alcoholism and club life, he said: “I became a total alcoholic. When I say ‘drinking,’ I used to hide bottles of vodka in my golf bag in the back of the trunk of my car, and God forbid half of a bottle was gone, I’d have to go to a liquor store and get a new one. My God, you know, I couldn’t run out of my friend.”
The problem got significantly worse after the death of his wife from breast cancer.
“There was a tremendous void in my life and nobody to lay down in bed with, nobody to talk to, nobody to smile with, laugh with, relate stories to,” he said.
“And, you know, I turned to drink. And vodka became a very, very dear friend.”
