YEAR
2002
INDUCTED BY
Darlene Love
CATEGORY
Performers
He could blaze through a rock hit or deliver a slow burn ballad.
The smoldering teen idol had more range than you think. In addition to singing, songwriting and playing various instruments, he carried songs with influences as diverse as country and R&B.
Gene Pitney
HALL OF FAME
ESSAY
By Andy Schwartz
Of all the American Rock & Rollers to emerge in the period between Elvis Presley’s induction into the army in 1958 and the arrival of the Beatles in 1964, Gene Pitney is one of the select few to have not just survived but also prospered into the Twenty-first Century.
At age sixty-one, the singer still performs to adoring audiences on four continents. In 1999-2000, for example, Pitney headlined sold-out tours of Australia and the U.K., including the London Palladium; taped a widely aired PBS concert special; mixed and edited with his son, Todd, in his home studio, the CD and DVD versions of the performance; and tended to the administration of his impressive catalogue of songs and other, extra musical investments.
