Bobby Sherman, a singer and actor who became a quintessential teen idol of the late 1960s and early ’70s, died Tuesday at 81.
His wife, Brigette Poublon Sherman, had announced three months ago that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.
In posting the news of his death to Instagram Tuesday morning, Poublon Sherman wrote, “It is with the heaviest heart that I share the passing of my beloved husband, Bobby Sherman. Bobby left this world holding my hand — just as he held up our life with love, courage, and unwavering grace through all 29 beautiful years of marriage. I was his Cinderella, and he was my prince charming. Even in his final days, he stayed strong for me. That’s who Bobby was—brave, gentle, and full of light.”
Sherman came to fame as a regular for two seasons on the ABC series “Here Come the Brides” in 1968-1970 and quickly parlayed that into an even bigger career as a singing star. Sherman was especially beloved by adolescent and pre-teen girls for his hit singles and tv appearances, coming to be literally the poster boy for the power of bubblegum music for a few years. With his suitable-for-wall-pasting photo spreads in magazines like Tiger Beat and 16, Sherman was rivaled only by Donny Osmond and David Cassidy in his power to mesmerize with his soothing voice and cuddly good looks.
At his peak, in 1969-70, he had four singles reach the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and achieve gold-selling status: “Little Woman” (No. 3), “La La La (If I Had You)” (No. 9), “Easy Come, Easy Go” (No. 9) and perhaps his best-known song, or the one most likely to be spontaneously belted out by fans of a certain age, “Julie, Do Ya Love Me” (No. 5).
In Brigette’s media message, she added: “He lived with integrity, gave without hesitation, and loved with his whole heart. And though our family feels his loss profoundly, we also feel the warmth of his legacy — his voice, his laughter, his music, his mission. Thank you to every fan who ever sang along, who ever wrote a letter, who ever sent love his way. He felt it.”
