Robert Lee Hatfield (August 10, 1940 – November 5, 2003) was an American singer. He and

Bill Medley William Thomas Medley (born September 19, 1940) is an American singer best known as one-half of the Righteous Brothers. He is noted for his bass-baritone voice, exemplified in songs such as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". Medley produced a n ...

were

the Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the L ...

. He sang the tenor part for the duo and sang solo on the group's 1965 recording of "

Unchained Melody "Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the prison film '' Unchained'' (1955), hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack.Robert ...

Early life

Born in

Beaver Dam, Wisconsin Beaver Dam is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States, along Beaver Dam Lake (Wisconsin), Beaver Dam Lake and the Beaver Dam River. The population was 16,708 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city primarily located in Dodge Co ...

, Hatfield moved with his family to

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...

, when he was four. He attended Anaheim High School, where he played football and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and was co-captain of the basketball team. He was student body president in the 1957–1958 school year, graduating in 1958.

Baseball

Hatfield was scouted by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. He briefly considered signing as a professional ballplayer, but his passion for music led him to pursue a singing career while still attending high school. He attended

Fullerton College Fullerton College (FC) is a public community college in Fullerton, California. The college is part of the California Community Colleges System and the North Orange County Community College District. Established in 1913, it is the oldest communi ...

. He eventually encountered his singing partner,

, while attending

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), also known in athletics as Long Beach State University (LBSU), is a public teaching-focused institution in Long Beach, California, United States. The 322-acre campus is the second largest in the ...

. Hatfield was an alumnus of

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon () is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on March 9, 1856.Baird, William Raimond, ed. (1905).Baird's Manual of American College Fratern ...

fraternity.

Career

Bobby Hatfield initially was in a group from

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...

called the Variations.

Paramours: 1962–1963

In 1962, Hatfield joined with Medley, who was in a group called the Paramours, and formed a five-member group using the same name: ''Paramours''. They first performed at a club called John's Black Derby in Santa Ana. They were signed to a small record label Moonglow in 1962. They released a single "There She Goes (She's Walking Away)" in December 1962. However, the Paramours did not have much success and soon broke up, leaving Hatfield and Medley to perform as a duo in 1963.

The Righteous Brothers: 1963–1968

Later, Hatfield and Medley performed as a duo and named their singing act The Righteous Brothers. They were often told they sounded like African-American gospel singers and chose the name after black Marines remarked of their singing, "that's righteous, brothers" and called them "righteous brothers". Their first charted single as the Righteous Brothers was " Little Latin Lupe Lu" released under the label Moonglow Records, and they appeared regularly on the television show ''

Shindig! ''Shindig!'' is an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles, In 1964, they appeared in a show at the

Cow Palace The Cow Palace (originally the California State Livestock Pavilion) is an indoor arena and events center located in Daly City, California, situated on the city's northern border with neighboring San Francisco. Because the border passes through t ...

near San Francisco and met the music producer

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

, whose group

The Ronettes The Ronettes were an American girl group from Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City. The group consisted of the lead singer Veronica Bennett (later known as Ronnie Spector), her older sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Ta ...

was also in the show. Spector was impressed and signed them to his own label

Philles Records Philles Records was an American record label formed in 1961 by Phil Spector and Lester Sill, the label taking its name from a hybrid of their first names. Initially, the label was distributed by Jamie/Guyden in Philadelphia. In 1962, Spector p ...

. Their first No. 1 was "

You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' is a song by Phil Spector, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Weil, first recorded in 1964 by the American vocal duo the Righteous Brothers. This version, produced by Spector, is cited by some music critics as the ultimat ...

," produced by

in 1964. Follow-up hits included "

," which was actually a Hatfield solo performance. After the success of "Unchained Melody", Spector then started recording older

standards Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object t ...

with the Righteous Brothers such as "

Ebb Tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide ...

", which Hatfield also performed solo, and it reached the Top 5. Both "Unchained Melody" and "Ebb Tide" were songs he had performed with his first group, the Variations. Another two of the last songs the duo recorded with Philles Records, " The White Cliffs of Dover" and " For Sentimental Reasons", were performed solo by Hatfield. In 1966, the Righteous Brothers left Spector and signed with Verve/

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

, and had a hit with " (You're My) Soul and Inspiration". However the duo broke up in 1968, and Hatfield teamed with singer Jimmy Walker (from The Knickerbockers) using the Righteous Brothers name on the MGM label. The new partnership released an album but did not have much success.

Solo career

Hatfield recorded a number of singles as a solo artist. In 1963, Hatfield released an uncharted single, "Hot Tamales"/"I Need a Girl" on Moonglow Records. He released the self-penned "Hang Ups" and covers of older songs, but " Only You" was his only charted single, peaking at No. 95. In 1969, Hatfield also appeared in the TV movie '' The Ballad of Andy Crocker''. In 1971, he released a solo album, ''Messin' in Muscle Shoals'', recorded at the

FAME Studios FAME (Florence Alabama Music Enterprises) Studios is a recording studio located at 603 East Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, United States, an area of northern Alabama known as the Shoals. Though small and distant from the main recording l ...

Muscle Shoals Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located on the left bank of the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, its population was 13,146. The estimated popula ...

in August 1970. However, MGM was in financial trouble, a scheduled single "The Promised Land"/"Woman You Got No Soul" was not released, and with little promotion the album largely went unnoticed.

Reunion

Hatfield and Medley reunited in 1974, and had another hit, the No. 3 " Rock and Roll Heaven." A hiatus followed between 1976 and 1981 when Medley retired from music after his ex-wife died, but they reunited for an anniversary special on ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...

'' in 1981 to perform an updated version of "Rock and Roll Heaven". In 1990, after the success of the film ''

Ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

'' in which "Unchained Melody" was used, Hatfield re-recorded the song and remarked to friends that he had not lost any of the high notes in his

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

range since the original recording, but had actually gained one note. The duo then toured extensively all through the 1990s and early 2000s. The Righteous Brothers were inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

in March 2003 by

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

Personal life

Hatfield had a short marriage to Joy Ciro, who appeared as a dancer on the '' T.A.M.I. Show'' and '' Where the Action Is''. They had two children, Bobby, Jr. and Kalin. Hatfield married Linda Torrison on August 4, 1979, and they remained married until his death. Linda suffered from

lupus Lupus, formally called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Common ...

, and Hatfield set up an annual golf tournament, the Bobby Hatfield Charity Golf Classic, to raise funds for charities for the disease. The couple had two children, Vallyn and Dustin.

Death

Hatfield died at the Radisson Hotel in downtown

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

, on November 5, 2003. He was found by Bill Medley and the Righteous Brothers' road manager Dusty Hanvey. A security guard let them into Hatfield's room after he had failed to show up at the concert venue when expected. He apparently died in his sleep, hours before a scheduled Righteous Brothers concert. In January 2004, a

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating ex ...

report concluded that

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

use had precipitated a fatal heart attack.Cocaine caused death of Bobby Hatfield
Associated Press. The Argus-Press – January 6, 2004 The initial autopsy found that Hatfield had advanced coronary disease. The medical examiner stated that "in this case, there was already a significant amount of blockage in the coronary arteries."

Discography

This is Hatfield's discography as a solo artist. See

The Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the L ...

for his discography as part of the duo.

Albums

Singles

Film soundtracks * ''Zig Zag'' (Original Motion Picture Score) (MGM, 1970)

Bibliography

External links

* *
Righteous Brothers Discography contains Bobby Hatfield Discographies and Tribute
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hatfield, Bobby 1940 births 2003 deaths Burials at Pacific View Memorial Park California State University, Long Beach alumni Cocaine-related deaths in Michigan Musicians from Anaheim, California Drug-related deaths in Michigan People from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin Singers from California 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers American soul singers 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers The Righteous Brothers members Sigma Alpha Epsilon members