THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay crooner Bobby Curtola has been elected to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
Curtola, who died in 2016 at 73, shot to fame in the early ‘60s. According his induction bio on the Canadian Music Hall of Fame site, “with his boy-next-door looks and smooth vocal style, Bobby Curtola had all the perfect qualities to win over fans at the dawn of the Sixties.”
At 16, he released Hand in Hand with You and had a string of pop hits that led him to become “Canada’s first teen idol.”
He toured coast to coast, then took his act to Vegas, where he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.
Curtola, who got his start performing sock hops with Bobby and the Bobcats, later opened for comedian Bob Hope in Winnipeg, recorded an album in Nashville and released a series of hits, including Don’t You Sweetheart Me, I’ll Never Be Alone Again and Hitchhiker, before putting out the multi-million-selling Fortune Teller.
He then spent more than 20 years in Vegas, while helping to raise millions of dollars for charity in Canada through telethons and concerts.
Curtola was inducted into the Order of Canada in 1998.
Other 2019 inductees include Corey Hart, Cowboy Junkies, Andy Kim and Chilliwack.
The Canadian Music Hall of Fame was established in 1978. This year’s induction ceremony will be held on Oct. 27 at Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre, in Calgary.
