Leon "Lenny" Welch (May 31, 1938 – April 8, 2025) was an American MOR and pop singer.

Early life

Welch was born on May 31, 1938 in New York City, and raised in

Asbury Park, New Jersey Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 15,188, a decr ...

, by his godparents, Eva and Robert Richardson. He attended

Asbury Park High School Asbury Park High School is a comprehensive, community public high school serving students in seventh through twelfth grades. It is in a landmark building in Asbury Park, in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, that was constru ...

. When he was 16 years old, Welch joined a local Asbury Park vocal group called The Mar-Keys ''(not to be confused with the Stax records studio band

The Mar-Keys The Mar-Keys, formed in 1958, were an American studio session band for Stax Records, in Memphis, Tennessee, in the 1960s. As the first house band for the label, their backing music formed the foundation for the early 1960s Stax sound. Career ...

)''.

Career

In 1960, Welch signed with

Cadence Records Cadence Records was an American record company based in New York City whose labels had a picture of a metronome. It was founded by Archie Bleyer, who had been the musical director and orchestra leader for Arthur Godfrey in 1952. Cadence also ...

. His biggest hit, a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

standard "

Since I Fell for You "Since I Fell for You" is a blues ballad composed by Buddy Johnson in 1945 that was first popularized by his sister, Ella Johnson, with Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra. A version by Annie Laurie with Paul Gayten and His Trio in 1947 led to i ...

," reached number 4 on

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1963, selling a million copies.Hamilton, Andrew. Lenny Welch biography

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Accessed December 30, 2007 Other hits included covers of “ You Don’t Know Me” (1960) and "

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 ...

" (1964). He released the first single with the vocal version of “

A Taste of Honey ''A Taste of Honey'' is the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was 19. It was adapted into an award-winning film of the same title in 1961. Set in Salford in North West England, it tells the story of Jo, ...

" in 1962 and performed the theme to the 1967 CBS TV series ''

Coronet Blue ''Coronet Blue'' is an American adventure drama series that ran on CBS from May 29 until September 4, 1967. It starred Frank Converse as Michael Alden, an amnesiac in search of his identity. Brian Bedford co-starred. The show's 13 episodes w ...

''. Welch reimagined

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

's "

Breaking Up is Hard to Do "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" is a song recorded by Neil Sedaka, co-written by Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. Sedaka recorded this song twice, in 1962 and 1975, in two significantly different arrangements, and it is considered to be his signature s ...

" as a

torch song A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affect ...

, which became a Top 40 hit in 1970; Sedaka re-recorded the song in Welch's style for a Top 10 hit in 1975.

Later life and death

After Welch's recording career ended, he resumed his education, attending night school after driving a

taxicab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

during the day. He first achieved a high school equivalency degree, then graduated from the

College of New Rochelle The College of New Rochelle (CNR) was a private Catholic college with its main campus in New Rochelle, New York. It was founded as the College of St. Angela by Mother Irene Gill, OSU of the Ursuline Order as the first Catholic women's college in ...

with a bachelor's degree. He also began singing for commercials, first for

Subaru is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first largest aut ...

and later for products that included

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

M&M's M&M's are color-varied sugar-coated dragée chocolate confectionery by the Mars Wrigley Confectionery division of Mars Inc.. The candy consists of a candy shell surrounding a filling which determines the specific type of M&M's. Each piece has ...

, and Mini-

Oreo Oreo (; stylized in all caps) is an American brand of sandwich cookie consisting of two cocoa biscuits with a sweet fondant filling. Oreos were introduced in 1912 by Nabisco, and the brand has been owned by Mondelez International since its me ...

s. From 1990 to 1991, Welch joined The Royal All Stars (

The Doo Wop All Stars The Doo Wop Royal All Stars was formed in 1992 as one of the first " supergroups" in to the doo wop music genre, combining members from other groups. "It's a show within a show," remarked longtime WCBS FM deejay Bobby Jay. The group remains activ ...

), first of the "supergroups" to be formed bringing together singers from different groups to perform. This group consisted of Welch, Vito Balsamo from Vito & the Salutations, Artie Loria from The Earls, Randy Silverman from

The Impalas The Impalas were an American doo-wop group in the late 1950s, best known for their hit single, hit, "Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home)". The group formed in 1958 in Brooklyn, New York, and was composed of lead singer Joe "Speedo" Frazier (Septembe ...

and Eugene Pitt from

The Jive Five The Jive Five were an American doo-wop group. They are best known for their 1961 hit single "My True Story" and their work on ID jingles for the Nickelodeon network in the 1980s. Their classic Doo-Wop recordings of "My True Story" (1961) and "B ...

. They became a mainstay in the "doo wop" circuit and toured relentlessly in the following years. Welch died following a long illness in

Kissimmee, Florida Kissimmee ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Osceola County, Florida, Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a principal city of the Greater Orlando, O ...

, on April 8, 2025, at the age of 86.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Since I Fell for You'' (1963) (US No. 73) *''Two Different Worlds'' (1965) *''Rags to Riches'' (1966) *''Lenny'' (1967) *''It's All About Love'' (2005)

Compilation albums

*''Anthology (1958-1966)'' (1996)

Singles

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Welch, Lenny 1938 births 2025 deaths American male singers Asbury Park High School alumni Musicians from Asbury Park, New Jersey Singers from New Jersey Singers from New York City Cadence Records artists Kapp Records artists