LAS VEGAS (CelebrityAccess) — Gaetano “Tommy” DeVito, a founding member of the iconic Doo-Wop group The Four Seasons, died on Monday from complications of COVID-19. He was 92.
The news of DeVito’s death was announced by actor Alfred Nittoli, a friend of DeVito’s, via social media.
“My dear friend Tommy passed away in Las Vegas at 9:45 last night with deep regret I am writing this sitting in his living room I was informed by his daughter Darcel there will be a service in New Jersey,” he said.
The announcement did not include a cause of death, but DeVito had been hospitalized due to coronavirus earlier this month, according to a social media post by his granddaughter Brittany Reilly.
DeVito began performing with the Four Lovers, the quartet that would eventually become the Four Seasons in 1954.
While the group went through various iterations in its early years, DeVito and Francis Castelluccio, who later adopted the stage name Frankie Valli, were the only consistent members.
The group officially became the Four Seasons in 1960 with the addition of songwriter and keyboardist Bob Gaudio and vocal arranger Nick Massi, and initially served as the backing band for producer Bob Crew before scoring a hit in 1962 with “Sherry.”
DeVito left the group in April 1970 and sold his stake in the band and copyrights to Valli and Gaudio.
DeVito rejoined his Four Seasons compatriots in 1990 when they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.
