Bobby Hendricks obit

Bobby Hendricks of the Original Drifters Has Died

He was not on the list. 

Bobby Hendricks was born in Columbus, Ohio on February 22, 1938.  Like many artists, he started singing with his church choir. At age 16, he joined his first group, the Crowns, based in Columbus. He would go on to sing for the Swallows and the Flyers before joining the Drifters in late 1957.

With the Drifters, he toured at the Apollo Theatre and recorded “Drip Drop”, “Moonlight Bay”, and “Suddenly There’s a Valley” in 1958. Leaving the Drifters later that year to start a solo career with Sue Records, Bobby recorded the smash hit “Itchy Twitchy Feeling”, which reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100. He would record more than a dozen other songs with Sue Records, including the hit “Psycho”, which reached #75 on the Billboard Hot 100. Throughout the 60’s, he recorded songs with Mercury Records, Cub/MGM Records, and Williams Records. Bobby also recorded songs with Bill Pinkney’s Original Drifters in the late 60’s, and would tour with them off and on until 1972.

In 1977, he moved to Los Angeles to establish his own vocal group. Since then, he has toured the country, performing in nearly every state, including a six-month engagement in Las Vegas. One of the recent highlights of his career was a performance with the Spokane Jazz Orchestra. Bobby has also performed internationally in Aruba, Austria, Canada, China, England, Ireland, Jamaica, and Singapore.

On April 13, 2001, Bobby was inducted into the Doo Wopp Hall of Fame of America at Symphony Hall in Boston. That same year, Bobby reunited with Bill Pinkney’s Original Drifters to perform on PBS’s Doo Wop 51, and again in 2007 for PBS’s Doo Wop Love Songs. Both performances were televised nationally and are currently available on DVD.

Bobby passed away at home on March 25, 2022 surrounded by his loving family after a nearly decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.