20 Facts About Gene Pitney

Gene Francis Alan Pitney was an American singer, songwriter, and musician.

The third of five children of a lathe operator, Gene Pitney lived with his family in Rockville, Connecticut, during his formative years.

Gene Pitney grew up in Rockville, now part of Vernon, Connecticut.

Gene Pitney followed that same year with his first Top 20 single, "Town Without Pity", from the 1961 film of the same title.

Gene Pitney performed the song at the Oscars ceremony on April 9,1962.

Gene Pitney was present with Phil Spector at some of the Rolling Stones' early recording sessions in London, including "Little by Little" and other tracks for their debut album; he played piano, though the extent of this is uncertain.

In 1965, Gene Pitney recorded two successful albums with country singer George Jones.

Gene Pitney recorded songs in Italian, Spanish, and German and twice finished second in Italy's prestigious annual Sanremo Music Festival, where his strong vibrato reminded older listeners of the Italian tenor Enrico Caruso.

Gene Pitney had a regional hit with "Nessuno mi puo giudicare".

Gene Pitney returned one last time to the Top 40 in April 1968 with "She's a Heartbreaker" and placed several singles in the lower reaches of the Hot 100 after that, but by 1970 he was no longer a hit-maker in the United States.

Gene Pitney maintained a successful career in Britain and the rest of Europe into the 1970s, appearing regularly on UK charts as late as 1974.

Gene Pitney continued to place records in the Australian charts through 1976, including the hit "Down This Road", written and produced by distant relative Edward Gene Pitney.

Gene Pitney's last hit on the UK charts came in 1989, after an absence of 15 years, when he and Soft Cell singer Marc Almond recorded a duet version of "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" by British writers Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway.

On 18 March 2002, Gene Pitney was inducted by singer Darlene Love into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Gene Pitney was involved in a gaffe on ITV's This Morning in 1989, owing to a "technical mishap".

At the height of his fame in 1967, Gene Pitney married his childhood sweetheart, Lynne Gayton, and the couple had three sons, Todd, Christopher, and David.

Gene Pitney was touring the UK in the spring of 2006 when his manager found him dead in his hotel room following a concert in Cardiff, Wales, on April 5.

Gene Pitney's final show at Cardiff's St David's Hall, which earned him a standing ovation, ended with "Town Without Pity".

Gene Pitney was laid to rest at Somers Center Cemetery in Somers, Connecticut.

On September 20,2007, a plaque to Gene Pitney was unveiled at the town hall in his hometown of Rockville, Connecticut.