Larry Chance (born October 19, 1940) is an American musician and the lead singer of the popular 1960s

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

group

Larry Chance and the Earls Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment * Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer *Larry Boon ...

, originally known as The Earls. He was born Larry Figueiredo in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. Upon moving to the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, he originally formed his group as The Hi-Hatters. The group was eventually rechristened The Earls and Figueiredo changed his last name to Chance, after the record label. In 1962, the Earls' single "

Remember Then "Remember Then" is a pop song written by Tony Powers and Beverly Ross, and first recorded in 1962 by doo-wop vocal group The Earls. Original copies of The Earls' version, on the Old Town label, show only Powers as the writer, while some later vers ...

" was a national hit. Other records entered the charts, including "Never" (top 5 on the local

charts), "Life Is But a Dream" (top 10 on the local

charts), and " I Believe", considered an East Coast classic. Other recordings include "Looking For My Baby" and "Kissing". Albums include "Remember Me Baby", "The Earls: Today", "The Earls – LIVE", "Earl Change", and "Streets of the Bronx". Chance also had a short-lived solo career in the late 1960s, but as the

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as wel ...

revival scene started a strong run in the early 1970s and 1980s, the Earls became one of the most requested groups in the doo-wop genre and Chance returned to the group. They continue to perform actively and remain popular on the oldies circuit. Chance was diagnosed with cancer in 2000, but went successfully through chemotherapy. He performed at the 2001 DOO WOP special in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, and told his fans about his experiences with his illness, before he sang "I Believe".

References

External links

Larry Chance and The Earls official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chance, Larry 1940 births Living people American male singers Musicians from Philadelphia Doo-wop musicians