
Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers
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Year:
1993
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Inducted by:
Boyz II Men
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Category:
Performers
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Frankie Lymon
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Herman Santiago
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Jimmy Merchant
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Joe Negroni
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Sherman Garnes
Introduction
Led by Lymon’s sparkling, boyish voice, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers sang their way into pop superstardom.
Their single “Why Do Fools Fall In Love?” was a defining moment in doo-wop history. Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers’ youthful personae and pure vocals predicted Sixties prodigies like Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder.
Hall of Fame Essay
1993
Ronnie Spector, in her autobiography, Be My Baby, wrote, “A lot of entertainers can’t or won’t tell you where they got their style from. But I know exactly where I got my voice. Frankie Lymon…I was twelve when I first heard Frankie and the Teenagers sing ‘Why Do Fools Fall in Love?’. Frankie had the greatest voice I’d ever heard.”
Diana Ross has said that she started out trying to emulate Lymon’s high-pitched, crystalline voice, his enunciation and whip-crack timing. Marvin Gaye, upon first witnessing his Motown labelmate Michael Jackson in action, commented, “It was Frankie Lymon all over again.”


they have finally been allowed to make the leap from boys to men.
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Gallery
Photography: Kevin Mazur, WireImage