{"id":25228,"date":"2026-11-03T20:27:38","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T20:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/?p=25228"},"modified":"2026-11-03T20:27:39","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T20:27:39","slug":"acclaimed-singer-tony-butala-founding-member-of-the-lettermen-dies-at-85","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/?p=25228","title":{"rendered":"Acclaimed singer Tony Butala, founding member of The Lettermen, dies at 85"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A legendary singer has left us. Tony Butala, acclaimed singer and co-founder of the iconic group<\/strong> <strong>The Lettermen, died at age 85.<\/strong><br><br>The Lettermen were once one of the biggest vocal groups in the United States. Now, their founder and lead singer, Tony Butala, has died. The group announced his death in a long Facebook tribute on November 1, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The group shared the news of \u201cprofound sadness\u201d that Tony had passed away, sending their \u201cmost heartfelt thoughts and prayers\u201d to \u201chis children, grandchildren, siblings, the love of his life, the entire Lettermen organization and all who knew and loved him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTony never met a stranger. His life was a living example of talent, perseverance, and refinement. But above all, his true joy was entertaining and sharing his music with audiences worldwide. His spirit will live on with every Lettermen performance,\u201d the post read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe words of his final public solo say it best\u2026 \u2018Smile though your heart is aching, Smile even though it\u2019s breaking, When there are clouds in the sky, you\u2019ll get by\u2026If you smile through your fear and sorrow, smile, and maybe tomorrow you\u2019ll see the sun come shining through \u2013 if you just smile.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The post concluded, \u201cThank you for all the smiles, Tony.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While millions knew him for his music, Tony never forgot where his journey began. But already from a very early age, it was clear that singing and spreading joy was his destiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Singer Tony Butala, founding member of The Lettermen, dies at 85<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Born on November 20, 1940, in Sharon, Pennsylvania, Tony, the youngest of 11 children, showed an early interest in singing, and his talent quickly became apparent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His sister Joan Butala, now 97, recently shared memories of her younger brother in an interview, saying that he had \u201ctoo much energy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll of a sudden he was singing around town here, different organizations: women\u2019s groups, for the power company. People wanted entertainers,\u201d she told WKBN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By the age of eight, Tony was performing on KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When he was ten, he and his mother moved to Hollywood, California, where he joined the famous <em>Mitchell Boys Choir<\/em>. It led to appearances in classic films such as <em>White Christmas<\/em>, <em>Peter Pan<\/em>, and <em>On Moonlight Bay<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the late 1950s, he co-founded what would become the acclaimed group <em>The Lettermen<\/em>. Their unique 3-part \u201csound\u201d captivated audiences worldwide. Some of the greatest hits include their debut single, <em>The Way You Look Tonight<\/em>, <em>When I Fall in Love<\/em>, and <em>Hurt So Bad<\/em>.<br><br>Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their vocal blend also captivated the music industry. In total, they earned four Grammy Awards. In 2020, the group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While singing was his life\u2019s passion, Tony Butala stepped away from the limelight in 2019. Though his performing days had ended, he helped lay the groundwork for The Lettermen\u2019s legacy to continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Lettermen are still performing today, 65 years later, and Tony remained the last surviving original member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The group announced in the Facebook tribute that there will be no public viewing. Celebrations of Life are planned in Wisconsin and California, with further details to be announced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A legendary singer has left us. Tony Butala, acclaimed singer and co-founder of the iconic group The Lettermen, died at age 85.The Lettermen were once one of the biggest vocal groups in the United States. Now, their founder and lead singer, Tony Butala, has died. The group announced his death in a long Facebook tribute &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":25229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25228"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25230,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25228\/revisions\/25230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}