By: HISTORY.com Editors
The Four Seasons earn their first No. 1 hit with “Sherry”
On September 15, 1962, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ “Sherry” hits the top of the pop music charts. It was the start of a remarkable run of hits.
Valli (born Francis Casteluccio) had been hard at work trying to become a star for the better part of a decade before the Four Seasons achieved their breakthrough. They had come together as a group in several stages over the previous four years, changing their name in 1961 from the Four Lovers after failing an audition at a New Jersey bowling alley called The Four Seasons.
It was keyboard player Bob Gaudio who wrote the song that would launch the group’s career. He later told Billboard magazine that he banged out “Sherry” in 15 minutes before a scheduled rehearsal. Without a tape recorder, Gaudio explained, “I drove down to rehearsal humming it, trying to keep it in my mind. I had no intention of keeping the lyrics, [but] to my surprise, everybody liked them, so we didn’t change anything.”
“Sherry” was released as a single in August 1962 and made it all the way to the top of the pop charts just four weeks later. In the next six months, the Four Seasons would earn two more No. 1 hits with “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Walk Like A Man,” making them the only American group ever to earn three consecutive No. 1 hits. “Rag Doll” gave the group its fourth No. 1 in the summer of 1964, and many other Top 40 hits followed in the subsequent 12 years before the Four Seasons made a triumphant return to the top of the pop charts with their fifth No. 1 hit “December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)” in March 1976.
The 1960s
Historian Yohuru Williams sums up the tumultuous political and cultural movements of the 1960s.
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Citation Information
- Article Title
- The Four Seasons earn their first No. 1 hit with “Sherry”
- Author
- HISTORY.com Editors
- Website Name
- History
- Date Accessed
- November 04, 2026
- Publisher
- A&E Television Networks
- Last Updated
- September 10, 2026
- Original Published Date
- April 01, 2010
