Franklin Joseph Lymon

 Franklin Joseph Lymon (September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968)

Lymon is best remembered as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group The Teenagers. The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid-teens. The Teenagers' first single, 1956's "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", was also their biggest hit. After Lymon went solo in mid-1957, both his career and that of the Teenagers fell into decline. 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 ABC TV show The Big Beat, Lymon began dancing with a white teenage girl while he was performing. Lymon's actions caused a scandal, particularly among Southern TV station owners, and The Big Beat was subsequently canceled. 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.

The Teenagers, who had been moved by Morris Levy to End Records, were released from their contract in 1961. The Teenagers reunited briefly with Lymon in 1965, without success. Over the next few years, Lymon struggled through short-lived deals with 20th Century Fox Records and Columbia Records. 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. He reported to Fort Gordon, Georgia, near Augusta, Georgia, for training. 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. Dishonorably discharged from the Army, he moved into his wife's home and continued to perform sporadically. On February 27, 1968, Lymon was found dead of a heroin overdose at the age of 25 on the floor of his grandmother's bathroom with a syringe by his side. He is buried at Saint Raymond's Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City.