CRESCENDO FEATURES BILL MEDLEY
“I’VE HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE”
Locally born and raised, Bill Medley is a legend in the history of American music and rock and roll. He is best known as half of the unmistakable duo, The Righteous Brothers, who became a fixture in the mid-1960s on Top Forty radio with hits like “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin,” “Just once in My Life,” “Unchained Melody” and “You’re My Soul and Inspiration.”
Medley has always had a passion for music. His father led a big band and played saxophone and his mother sang and played piano. After glee clubs and amateur singing contests as a youth, when he heard the music of Ray Charles and Little Richard he realized making music for a living was a feasible idea! He formed a group called “The Paramours” and was introduced to Bobby Hatfield, who led “The Variations.” One night they put their voices together and the result was magic leading to the partnership of The Righteous Brothers which lasted forty years. In March of 2003 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The induction came just months before Bobby Hatfield’s unexpected death. Medley not only lost his singing partner but a close friend whom he’d known since his late teens.
In 1987 Medley scored a monumental hit with another artist, Jennifer Warnes, on “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” for the film Dirty Dancing.” The song earned an Oscar, a Golden Globe, Video of the Year and a Grammy, and the soundtrack put Medley at the top of the Billboard charts. In 1990, The Righteous Brothers’ classic version of “Unchained Melody” appeared in the hit film Ghost and ran all ratings over the top once again. This introduced yet another new generation to the works of The Righteous Brothers.
Medley has now gone back into the studio to record “Damn Near Righteous” paying tribute to legendary peers and mentors including Hatfield. He also pays homage to Ray Charles, Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys) and Phil Everly (Everly Brothers) and David Wild of Rolling Stone Magazine writes: “This gritty singer has delivered his finest solo album and the best thing he’s done since the Sixties, period.” He shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon, keeping to a rigorous tour schedule so he may share his love of music night after night with all of his loyal fans.
Medley will share his story and his remarkable talents as Crescendo’s featured celebrity at 10:00 am on Thursday, January 9, 2014, at the Norma Kershaw Auditorium in the Bowers Museum. Tickets for the Bill Medley venue can be purchased at the Bowers Museum door for $30. For more information and to assure your reservation, please contact Mary Staton at (714) 544-5549. All proceeds from this event support Segerstrom Center for the Arts and its education and community programs.
The Crescendo Chapter of The Guilds of Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
Marsha Corzine, Public Relations Chair
