Gary Lewis (musician)

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Gary Harold Lee Lewis, born July 31, 1945, is an American musician who formed and performed in the band Gary Lewis & the Playboys.

His father was the film (and later television) comedian Jerry Lewis. His mother intended to name him after her favorite actor, Cary Grant, but his birth certificate reflects the hospital authorities reporting his name as "Gary" instead.

He received a set of drums as birthday gift in his early teen years. Around 1964, he formed Gary Lewis & the Playboys with four friends; he played the drums and was nominally the lead singer. In 1965 Gary himself was Cash Box magazine's "Male Vocalist of the Year", and he was the only artist during the 1960s to have his first seven releases each reach the top ten of the Billboard magazine Hot 100 rankings.

He entered the U.S. Army as a draftee in January 1967, serving into 1968. After his return to performing, popular-music styles had changed, and five releases by the band that year peaked from 13th to 39th.

Most of the rest of his musical career has taken the form of a "nostalgia act", and appearances, continuing as of 2006, on his father's Labor Day Telethons for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.