Bobby Sherman became one of the biggest music stars of the 1960s and 1970s. Looking back, it’s hard for me to conjure even one friend who didn’t have a crush on him at one point or another.
Sherman released multiple albums, became a well-respected actor, performed in front of thousands of people, and sold millions of records. Eventually, however, he decided to leave the entertainment business for good at the height of his fame.
Now, this wasn’t because the now 80-year-old felt like his skills had deteriorated in any way. No, he had a much more significant cause, one that had to do with saving lives.
Here’s all you need to know about the legendary artist Bobby Sherman!
Bobby Sherman was born on July 22, 1943, in Santa Monica, California, and grew up in Van Nuys, close to Los Angeles.
Bobby Sherman – early life
By age 11, he was said to have learned how to play the trumpet, and later on piano, trombone, piano, and of course, the guitar. Sherman attended Birmingham High School. There, he joined a band and became very interested in singing. Over the years, he reportedly learned how to play an astonishing 16 instruments.
Upon graduating from high school in 1961, Sherman began studying at Pierce College in Woodland Hill, near Los Angeles. It was there that a relationship would change the course of his life for good.
Sherman studied child psychology at Pierce College, and there met his first girlfriend. One night, she decided to take him with her to a cast party for The Greatest Story Ever Told.
Sherman had already started playing music at that point. He sang with different bands in the San Fernando Valley, and plenty of people knew he had a good voice. So it was that when he arrived at the party, Sherman took the opportunity to flex his talent.
“I was always the guy who had the gumption to get up and sing in front of people,” he later said of it.
Bobby had friends at the party who were playing in the band on stage, which likely made things a little bit easier. In any case, he got up in front of everyone and sang Ray Charles’ What I’d Say.
Bobby Sherman – family, wife, children
From 1969 through 1971, Sherman’s young fan base bought millions of recordings, and he released singles such as Little Woman, Easy Come, Easy Go, and Julie, Do Ya Love Me.
He sold a million copies of six different single recordings, and one million copies of four different recorded albums.
“A song begins with an idea – one line,” he said in 1971.” I build that into a complete lyric. Then, I fit the music around it.”
Sherman was in a television series called Getting Together – a spinoff of The Partridge Family about two songwriters – in 1970 and 1971, and went on to feature in several other guest roles afterwards.
Coinciding with Sherman’s rise to fame, was his marriage to his first wife; in 1971, he tied the knot with Patti Carnel. Together, the couple welcomed two sons, Christopher and Tyler.
Sherman wanted his kids to have a great place to grow up, and thus decided to build a miniature model of the Main Street of Disneyland … in his backyard. It reportedly cost him about $15,000 dollars to build, while the project took about two and a half years to complete.
Not everyone was happy with the project; his wife was said to be annoyed by the constant noise of hammers.
“I didn’t know what home was”
“At one point, she said, ‘If you don’t finish it, I’ll kill you,” Sherman joked in an interview with people
Not only did Bobby’s children inspire him to build his own piece of Disneyland, but they became the inspiration for his new career.
Bobby became a true television teen-throb before the likes of Shaun Cassidy and even David Cassidy. He was eventually “replaced” by the likes of Donny Osmond.
