Charlie Gracie, Philadelphia's first rock star, dies at 86
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Charlie Gracie, said to be Philadelphia's first rock star, has died. He was 86 years old.
Charlie Gracie had perfected giving crowds a good time. That wide smile, smooth voice and charm kept people coming back.
After all, he wrote the score for rock and roll.
Gracie is credited with influencing dozens of musicians, some of the best there ever was.
"My father was the first rock and roll star to come out of Philadelphia," Charlie Gracie Jr. said, "the first guy to achieve success at the age of 21. He was touring the world."
Gracie Jr. reflected on his father's life.
The South Philly rockabilly pioneer died Friday surrounded by family.
His career had a meteoric rise in 1957.
His song "Butterfly" reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart, selling millions of records when Gracie was just 21.
"So when his shot came for the big time, he was ready for it," Gracie Jr. said "He had already been playing locally, and kind of cut his teeth in the local bars and taverns and strip clubs, wherever there was work."
Over the years, Gracie toured the U.K. 40 times.
In 2019, he and his wife Joan did a 26-city stop and then the COVID-19 pandemic happened.
That spelled trouble for a man who lived for the stage.
Gracie kept a busy schedule up until one weekend in the spring when he got COVID-19. Right before that, he had shows in the Poconos and New York.
But because of his illness, his son says he never bounced back.
"He was unable to play anymore. I think that really depressed him," Gracie Jr. said. "He missed being on stage."
Remembering all those good times as Gracie recalled in his father.
"When all is said and done," Gracie Jr. said, "Paul McCartney and all these big stars might like me and they all I think I influenced them, which is great, but the bottom line is I'm still little Charlie Gracie who came from South Philadelphia, I sing and play the guitar and if you came to see me for a couple of hours at some venue and you enjoyed yourself and I made you forget about your problems for a while, then I fulfilled my mission and I'm eternally grateful to God for that."
Gracie leaves behind a wife and two children. He was 86.
