Robert Parissi (born 29 December 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician, best known as frontman for the American funk group Wild Cherry. He also wrote the group's only hit, the 1976 chart-topping " Play That Funky Music". He was raised in the steel mill town of Mingo Junction,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. He graduated from Mingo High School in 1968. Rob formed the band Wild Cherry in 1970 in

Steubenville, Ohio Steubenville ( ) is a city in Jefferson County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Ohio River west of Pittsburgh, it had a population of 18,161 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Weirton–Steubenville m ...

, one mile north of Mingo Junction along the Ohio River. The band played the Ohio Valley region, Wheeling,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

and the rest of the Northern West Virginia panhandle, and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. After Wild Cherry disbanded in 1979 without another major hit, Parissi became a producer and dedicated himself to

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

music. He writes and records

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to e ...

and has collaborated with Steve Oliver and Will Donato.

Discography

With Wild Cherry

* '' Wild Cherry'', 1976 * '' Electrified Funk'', 1977 * '' I Love My Music'', 1978 * '' Only the Wild Survive'', 1979

Solo

* ''Late Bloomer'', 2008 * ''Boca Ciega Bay'', 2010 * ''Ocean Sunset'', 2011 * ''East Coast Vibe'', 2011 * ''The Real Deal'', 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parissi, Rob American funk singers American funk guitarists American male guitarists Living people 1950 births Wild Cherry (band) members People from Mingo Junction, Ohio Guitarists from Ohio