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Franklin Joseph Lymon (September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968) was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group the Teenagers. The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid-teens. The original lineup of the Teenagers, an integrated group, included three African-American members, Lymon, Jimmy Merchant, and Sherman Garnes; and two Puerto Rican members, Joe Negroni and Herman Santiago. The Teenagers' first single, 1956's "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", was also their biggest hit. After Lymon went solo in mid-1957, both his career and that of the Teenagers fell into decline. In 1968, Lymon was found dead at age 25 from a heroin overdose. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of the Teenagers. Lymon's life was dramatized in the 1998 film Why Do Fools Fall in Love.
As a solo artist, Lymon was not nearly as successful as he had been with the Teenagers. Beginning with his second solo release, "My Girl", Lymon had moved to Roulette Records. On a July 19, 1957, episode of Alan Freed's live ABC TV show The Big Beat, Lymon began dancing with a white teenage girl while performing. His actions caused a scandal, particularly among Southern TV station owners, and The Big Beat was subsequently canceled.
Lymon's slowly declining sales fell sharply in the early 1960s. His highest-charting solo hit was a cover of Bobby Day's "Little Bitty Pretty One", which peaked at No. 58 on the Hot 100 pop chart in 1960 and which had been recorded in 1957. Addicted to heroin since he was 15, Lymon fell further into his habit and his performing career went into decline. According to Lymon in an interview with Ebony magazine in 1967, he was first introduced to heroin at age 15 by a woman twice his age. In 1961, Roulette, now run by Morris Levy, ended their contract with Lymon and he entered a drug rehabilitation program. After losing Lymon, the Teenagers went through a string of replacement singers, the first of whom was Billy Lobrano. In 1960, Howard Kenny Bobo sang lead on "Tonight's the Night" with the Teenagers; later that year, Johnny Houston sang lead on two songs. The Teenagers, who had been moved by Morris Levy to End Records, were released from their contract in 1961. The Teenagers briefly reunited with Lymon in 1965, without success.
Lymon appeared at the Apollo as part of a revue, adding an extended tap dance number. He recorded several live performances (such as "Melinda" in 1959), but none rose on the charts. Lymon's final television performance was on Hollywood a Go-Go in 1965, where the 22-year-old to the recording of his 13-year-old self singing "Why Do Fools Fall in Love".
Following an arrest for heroin use in 1966, Lymon joined the United States Army in lieu of a jail sentence. However, he repeatedly went AWOL to secure gigs at small Southern clubs. Traveling to New York in 1968, Lymon was signed by manager Sam Bray to his Big Apple label, and the singer returned to recording.
Roulette Records expressed interest in releasing Lymon's records in conjunction with Big Apple and scheduled a recording session for February 28. A major promotion had been arranged with CHO Associates, owned by radio personalities Frankie Crocker, Herb Hamlett, and Eddie O'Jay. Lymon, staying at his grandmother's apartment in Harlem, where he had grown up, celebrated his good fortune by relapsing into his addiction by taking heroin. Lymon had remained clean since entering the Army two years earlier.
Taylor claimed to have married Lymon in Mexico in 1965 although their relationship ended several months later, purportedly because of Lymon's drug habits. However, Lymon was known to say that their marriage was a publicity stunt, and Taylor could produce no legal documentation of their marriage, however, it was reported that the couple married in Las Vegas. In Major Robinson's gossip column of June 6, 1966, Zola said the whole thing was a joke that she went along with at the time (October 1965).Robinson, Major (June 6, 1966) The Pittsburgh Courier
While in Augusta, Georgia following sentencing for heroin use, Lymon met and fell in love with Emira Eagle, a schoolteacher at Hornsby Elementary in Augusta. The two were wed in June 1967, and Lymon repeatedly went AWOL to secure gigs at small Southern clubs. Dishonorably discharged from the Army, Lymon moved into his wife's home and continued to perform sporadically.
Apart from the posthumous releases of these songs, Lymon's troubles extended to others. After Diana Ross returned "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" to the Top Ten in 1981, a major controversy concerning Lymon's estate ensued. Having neglected to divorce any of them and each claiming to be Frankie Lymon's rightful widow, Zola Taylor, Elizabeth Waters, and Emira Eagle approached Morris Levy, the music impresario who retained possession of Lymon's copyrights and his royalties. The complex issue resulted in lawsuits and counter-lawsuits, and in 1986 the first of several court cases concerning the ownership of Lymon's estate began.
Trying to determine who was indeed the lawful Mrs. Frankie Lymon was complicated by more issues. Waters was already married when she married Lymon; she had separated from her first husband, but their divorce was finalized in 1965, after she had married Lymon.Goldberg, Marv. "Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebook: The Teenagers". Taylor claimed to have married Lymon in Mexico in 1965, but could produce no acceptable evidence of their union. Lymon's marriage to Eagle, on the other hand, was properly documented as having taken place at Beulah Grove Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia, in 1967; however, the singer was still apparently twice-married and never divorced when he married Eagle. The first decision was made in Waters' favor; Eagle appealed, and in 1989, the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court reversed the original decision and awarded Lymon's estate to Eagle.Bennett, Joy. The Real Story of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love". The 1998 Frankie Lymon biographical film concludes with a comical post-script stating that Elmira Eagle (now legally Emira Eagle-Lymon) received only $15,000 from winning Lymon's estate, after legal and other expenses were paid off. An excerpt from this article states otherwise: "A major discrepancy in the movie left the impression that Emira Eagle-Lymon only received a $15,000 settlement. After Diana Ross re-recorded Frankie's song "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," his estate was worth more than $1 million. Attorney William McCracken confirms that 'the settlement was well over seven figures.'">
However, the details of the case brought about another issue: whether mobster Morris Levy was deserving of the songwriting co-credit on "Why Do Fools Fall in Love". Although early single releases of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" credit Frankie Lymon, Herman Santiago, and Jimmy Merchant as co-writers, later releases and cover versions were attributed to Lymon and George Goldner. When Goldner sold his music companies to Morris Levy in 1959, Levy's name began appearing as co-writer of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" in place of Goldner's. Lymon was never paid his songwriting royalties during his lifetime; one result of Emira Eagle's legal victory was that Lymon's estate would finally begin receiving monetary compensation from his hit song's success. In 1987, Herman Santiago and Jimmy Merchant, both by then poor, sued Morris Levy's estate for their songwriting credits. In December 1992, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that Santiago and Merchant were co-authors of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love". However, in 1996 the ruling was reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on the basis of the statute of limitations: copyright cases must be brought before a court within three years of the alleged civil violation while Merchant and Santiago's lawsuit was not filed until 30 years later. Authorship of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" currently remains in the names of Frankie Lymon and Morris Levy.
In 1993, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2000.
Lymon's music and story were eventually re-introduced to modern audiences with Why Do Fools Fall in Love, a 1998 biographical film directed by Gregory Nava, also the director of the Selena biopic. Why Do Fools Fall in Love tells a comedic, fictionalized version of Lymon's story from the points of view of his three wives as they battle in court for the rights to his estate. The film stars Larenz Tate as Frankie Lymon, Halle Berry as Zola Taylor, Vivica A. Fox as Elizabeth Waters and Lela Rochon as Emira Eagle. Why Do Fools Fall in Love was not a commercial success and met with mixed reviews;" Reviews for Why Do Fools Fall in Love". Rotten Tomatoes.com. Reviews weighed on Rottentomatoes.com give Why Do Fools Fall in Love a rating of 55%. the film grossed a total of $12,461,773 during its original theatrical run. Entry for Why Do Fools Fall in Love at Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 19, 2006.
The song "Harlem Roulette" by the Mountain Goats, off its 2012 album Transcendental Youth, contains references to Frankie Lymon, to the song "Seabreeze", and to Roulette Records. Frontman John Darnielle has stated that the song is about the last night of Lymon's life.
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