Lennon Sisters
Lennon Sisters
The Lennon Sisters are a singing
group consisting of four siblings: Dianne (born December 1, 1939), Peggy (born
April 8, 1941), Kathy (born August 2, 1943), and Janet (born June 15, 1946).
They were all born in Los Angeles, California of German/Irish and Mexican
ancestry. The original quartet were the eldest four in a family of twelve
siblings. In 1992, younger sister Mimi replaced second sister Peggy who retired.
Sister Dianne (DeeDee) has also retired. The group were a regular on the weekly
television show, The Lawrence Welk Show. The current group line-up, appearing
mostly at Welk resorts, consists of Mimi, Janet and Kathy.
The quartet debuted on The Lawrence Welk Show on Christmas Eve 1955 after their
school classmate, Larry Welk, son of Lawrence Welk, brought them to the
attention of his father. Welk was home, sick in bed, when his son brought the
sisters in to sing for him. He was so impressed he picked up the phone and
booked them for that week's show. They were a mainstay on the show until they
left to start a career of their own in 1968. The quartet was only three members
from 1960 to 1964; oldest sister Dianne (also called Dee Dee) married, left the
group, and then rejoined them. Peggy sang the high harmony part, Kathy the low
harmony, and Janet and Dianne sang the middle harmony and lead parts.
Their first hit, "Tonight, You Belong to Me" reached to #15 on the charts in
1956. This was followed by their 1961 single, "Sad Movies (Make Me Cry)", (Dot
16255), which turned out to be their highest-charting record. It provided them
with the only number #1 single of their career, reaching the top of the charts
in Japan.
Items such as coloring books, paper dolls and story books were produced with the
Lennon sisters.
with the next generation
In 1969, the sisters starred in their own variety show, Jimmy Durante Presents the Lennon Sisters Hour. Six weeks before the show premiered on August 12, the sisters were forced to deal with the shooting death of their father, William Lennon, by a stalker named Chet Young, who believed himself married to Peggy and claimed their father stood in the way and had to be eliminated. Young shot William Lennon in the parking lot of the Marina Del Rey golf course; two months later he used the same weapon to commit suicide. The sisters discovered an unopened letter containing a cut out of their father, a picture of a gun pointed at his head, and the words "High Noon" (the time of the murder). (Source, Dr. Doreen Orion, I Know You Really Love Me) In the wake of the murder, Jimmy Durante Presents The Lennon Sisters Hour lasted one season before it was cancelled by ABC.
In the 1970s, the sisters performed regularly on The Andy Williams Show, and
toured with Williams across the country including engagements at Caesar's Palace
in Las Vegas. They also appeared on several game shows as well, such as Family
Feud, Tattletales and The Hollywood Squares. From 1994 to 2004, the quartet
performed as headliners at the Welk Champagne Theater in the Ozark community of
Branson, Missouri. When Peggy retired from singing in 1999, younger sister Mimi
took her place, and when Dianne left for a second time in 2001, the act became a
trio again for the rest of its run in Branson.
showing their line of "Best Pals" dolls
While continuing to play tour dates, Kathy and Janet Lennon have branched out
into the toy market, designing and selling their "Best Pals" dolls. In addition
to the dolls, the sisters have recorded CDs of favorite children songs for their
"Best Pals" line.
The four original Lennon Sisters wrote their autobiography Same Song, Separate
Voices, which was originally published in 1985 and updated a decade later.
Text from Wikipedia
