Lou Christie, the Pittsburgh-born pop singer who reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with his 1966 hit “Lightnin’ Strikes,” died Wednesday at his home in Pittsburgh after a brief illness. He was 82.
Christie’s family announced his death in a social media post on Wednesday, stating that he “will be greatly missed, always remembered, and forever loved.” The family noted that Christie was cherished not only by his family and close friends, but also by countless fans whose lives he touched with his kindness and generosity, artistic and musical talent, humor and spirit. No specific cause of death was provided.
Born Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco on February 19, 1943, in Glenwillard, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, Christie began his musical career as a teenager. At age 15, while attending Moon High School, he formed a successful partnership with songwriter and pianist Twyla Herbert, despite her being 20 years his senior. Together, they would write hundreds of songs over the ensuing decades.
Christie’s breakthrough came in 1963 with “The Gypsy Cried,” which he co-wrote with Herbert. The song became his first million-seller and reached No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. He quickly followed this success with “Two Faces Have I,” also co-written with Herbert, which climbed to No. 6 on the charts later that year.
The singer’s career was briefly interrupted when he spent two years in the Army Reserve. However, his return to music proved triumphant when he achieved his greatest commercial success with “Lightnin’ Strikes” in 1966. The song, which showcased Christie’s distinctive falsetto voice, reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 on his 23rd birthday. The track was arranged, conducted and produced by Charles Calello and featured backing vocals from Bernadette Carroll, Peggy Santiglia and Denise Ferri of The Delicates.
Christie continued his chart success with “Rhapsody in the Rain” in spring 1966, which reached No. 16 on the Hot 100. The song, about teenagers having intimate moments in a car during a rainstorm, was banned by many radio stations for its risque lyrics, particularly the line “our love went much too far.” A cleaner version was later recorded to address the controversy.
In 1969, Christie returned to the top 10 with “I’m Gonna Make You Mine,” which peaked at No. 10 in the United States. The song performed even better internationally, reaching No. 2 in the United Kingdom.
Christie’s touring experience included performing with Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars, where he shared stages with Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Drifters, Crystals and Ronettes. He described traveling 300 miles a day for 31 consecutive nights, often sleeping on the tour bus. The integrated tours faced significant challenges in the South during the early 1960s, with Christie recounting incidents where people shot at and threw rocks at their bus, and venues sometimes attempted to segregate performances.
During his peak years, Columbia Pictures label Colpix attempted to groom Christie for film roles, wanting him to replace Frankie Avalon in beach party movies. However, Christie resisted these efforts, preferring to focus on his musical career rather than become another manufactured teen idol.
Christie experimented with different musical styles throughout his career. In the early 1970s, he released “Paint America Love,” a hippie-influenced orchestral pop album that he considered some of his best work, though the record label struggled to market it effectively. His final major chart success came in 1974 with a country version of “Beyond the Blue Horizon,” which reached No. 13 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
After the country experiment, Christie temporarily moved back to Pittsburgh and took a job driving a truck. When disco emerged in the late 1970s, he formed the dance-pop label 2001 in conjunction with local clubs. The 1980s brought the oldies revival era, which put him back on tour circuits performing classic hits.
Christie recorded his final album in 2004 and continued performing on the oldies circuit for decades, including tours with Frankie Avalon and Fabian as part of Dick Fox’s Golden Boys. He had two albums reach the Billboard 200 chart during his career: his 1963 self-titled debut and 1966’s “Lightnin’ Strikes.”
In 1971, Christie married Francesca Winfield, a former Miss England and British beauty queen. He is survived by his wife and their daughter Bianca. The couple’s son Christopher died in 2014 at age 46 in a motorcycle accident in Houston.
Singer Fabian Forte, who worked with Christie since 1958 and lives in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, expressed his condolences, describing Christie as one of the most talented and sweetest people, calling him one of the all-time greats.
