Artist Profile: Tony Orlando
Tony Orlando and Dawn (Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent) hit the top of the charts in April, l973 with their recording of "Tie A Yellow Ribbon Around The Old Oak Tree". "Tie A Yellow Ribbon" had a revival when the American hostages returned from Iran in 1981, after 444 days of captivity. Yellow ribbons were displayed on trees from coast to coast.
A String of Hits
All told, they put together a string of top 40 hits including "Knock Three Times" and "Candida" and "Sweet Gypsy Rose". The group did a comedy-variety television series on CBS for four years during the mid-1970's.
Breaking Up is Hard to Do
Orlando broke up the act in 1977 when he suffered a breakdown brought on by drug problems, the death of his sister and the suicide of his close friend, Freddie Prinze. Hopkins went on to act in several series including "Gimme a Break" and "Family Matters". Tony Orlando and Dawn reunited in 1988 and toured for five years before breaking up again. They got together in the spring of 2004, performing for a PBS special.
Where is He Now?
Orlando now lives in Branson, Missouri, performing Christian music and touring solo. He has a Web site of his own: TonyOrlandoOnLine.com.
