Tanya Falan
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| Tanya Falan | |
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 Singer Tanya Falan Welk of The Lawrence Welk Show
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Tanya Marie Falappino |
| Born | May 4, 1949 , Glendale, California, United States |
| Genre(s) | Traditional Pop, Jazz, Big Band |
| Years active | 1967 - present |
| Label(s) | Ranwood Records |
| Associated acts | Ralna English, Norma Zimmer, Mary Lou Metzger, Gail Farrell |
Tanya Falan, also known as Tanya Welk (born May 4, 1949) is an American born singer best known from The Lawrence Welk Show.
She was born in Glendale, California to parents Phillip and Rose Falappino. Very versatile and talented from a young age, she made her singing debut at age four on stage at "Little Joe's" restaurant in Los Angeles. A year later, she made her first television appearance on The Gene Norman Show, and later performed as a semi-regular on The Bill Stella Show.
As a teenager, she signed an exclusive contract with Walt Disney in which she had her own band called Tanya and the Thunderbirds which performed at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. In addition to singing, she also played a variety of musical instruments such as the cello, double bass, drums and the xylophone.
Tanya joined The Lawrence Welk Show on New Year's Eve 1967 following from a recommendation from Mary Lee Schafer, president of Lawrence Welk's fan club. Less than a year later, she married Welk's son Larry Welk, and within two years the couple became the proud parents of two sons; Lawrence the Third (born in 1970) who is a reporter and heilcopter pilot for KCBS & KCAL, and Kevin (born in 1971), now working as a record executive with the Welk Music Group.
During her tenure on the show, in addition to her solo numbers, she also sang in duets with fellow Welk star Anacani, plus she also did trios with Bob Lido and Charlie Parlato in often comedic musical numbers such as Eh, Cumpari! and Yes, We Have No Bananas just to name a few. She also did a few numbers as part of the Curt Ramsey Quintet, headed by Welk show music arranger Curt Ramsey.
Tanya also toured and recorded albums with her fellow Welk stars. One of them was her solo album Let It Be Me which was released by Ranwood Records in 1969.
She left the show and the Welk organization in 1977 to pursue a solo career. Two years later, her marriage to Larry Welk ended.
Married a second time, to Kenny Roberts since 1980, she now has three more children in her second marriage and is a proud grandmother as well. She still performs on occasion with her fellow Welk alumni.
