Childhood & Early Life
Frank Stallone was born on July 30, 1950 to Frank Stallone Sr. and Jacqueline Stallone in New York City. While his father was a hairdresser, his mother is a famed astrologer, dancer and promoter of women’s wrestling. He has an elder brother, the popular actor Sylvester Stallone.
He attended Lincoln High School in Northeast Philadelphia. During this time, he often played the guitar and sang on street corners, making money out of the same. The positive response from the people propelled him to take up music professionally.
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Career
Frank Stallone’s interest and passion for music led him to pursue his musical ambition while growing up. After forming a series of bands in the early years, he finally turned professional at the age of 25. With John Oates as the lead guitarist, Stallone formed the music band ‘Valentine’.
The big breakthrough in his career came in 1975 when he inked a record deal with RCA Records. The deal opened gateway for new opportunities and newer prospects to come his way. In 1975, he recorded the first album.
While working on his debut album, Frank Stallone was offered an opportunity to make his on-screen singing debut. He performed on the self-penned acapella song, ‘Take You Back’ in the opening scene of the film ‘Rocky’. Later, he featured yet again in the sequels ‘Rocky II’ and ‘Rocky III’.
While he penned and sang a number of songs henceforth, his best bit came when he sang ‘Far from Over’ for the film ‘Staying Alive’ in 1983. Rising up the charts, the song became a super hit thus escalating Stallone’s reputation as a prolific singer as well.
The song ‘Far From Over’ from the album ‘Staying Alive’ broke the monotony of Stallone’s career graph by giving it a new high. Marked as his first pop hit, the song peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
After the fantabulous hit from ‘Staying Alive’ album, he came up with his self-titled album the following year ‘Frank Stallone’. Styled along the 1980s pop format, the album included a remixed version of his hit tracks ‘Far from Over’ and ‘Darlin’, which peaked at #81 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Following his debut album, he came up with his next album ‘Day In and Day Out’ in 1991 with Sammy Nestico. Sammy worked as a conductor throughout the making of the album. He ended the decade with two more albums—‘Close Your Eyes’ in 1993 and ‘Soft and Low’ in 1999.
Apart from albums, Frank Stallone has also worked as a singer in the tradition of American big band jazz and popular music. His vocal style is similar to the legendary singer Frank Sinatra whose compositions and melodies have been mesmerizingly beautiful. Stallone tried to capture the magic and essence of Sintara’s music in his own albums.
Over the years, he has recorded nine solo albums, each of which was positively received by the audience and the people alike. In 2000, he came up with his rock influenced ‘Full Circle’ and followed it with his American songbook albums, ‘In Love in Vain’ with Sammy Nestico, ‘Stallone on Stallone by Request’ a compilation of his film soundtrack tunes, and ‘Songs from the Saddle’ which gave a sneak peek at his acoustic side. In 2010, he came up with his last album as of now, namely, ‘Let Me Be Frank With You’.
Apart from singing, Stallone has also explored his acting talent in films and television shows. Over the years, he has acted in over 60 films and TV shows including multiple sitcoms and variety shows, such as ‘Hudson Hawk’, ‘Staying Alive’, ‘Fred Claus’, and ‘Tombstone’. One of his most memorable film roles was as ‘Eddie’ the bartender in ‘Barfly’. He even made his debut at online comedy with the parody film short ‘Chupacobra’. His last releases include as Ben in ‘Reach Me’ in 2014 and as the voice of ‘Thunderhoof’ in Hasbro's hit animated series ‘Transformers’ in 2015.
Not many know that apart from being a prolific actor and singer, Frank Stallone is also an accomplished amateur boxer. In 2005, he appeared as a boxing consultant on the NBC reality television series ‘The Contender’. He has even appeared on the Howard Stern Radio and television show on several occasions, one of which includes a boxing match with television reporter Geraldo Rivera. What’s more, Stallone was one of the contestants on the Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling.
