Ronnie Gaylord

Ronnie Gaylord (June 12, 1930 – January 25, 2004) was the name taken by Ronald L. Fredianelli, a member of The Gaylords, when he began to perform as a solo singer after entering military service in the 1950s.

Fredianelli was born in Detroit, Michigan. He formed the Gaylords (originally The Gay Lords) with Bonaldo Bonaldi and Don Rea in Detroit in 1949. For a while he used the name of Ronnie Vincent before adopting the name Ronnie Gaylord.

In the military, he was assigned to Special Services and sang with a military band. He had one hit as Ronnie Gaylord: "Cuddle Me" (1954). (Apparently, he was allowed to release it while still in the service.)

On Feb 15 1955 he was discharged from the military at Fort Carson, Colorado and rejoined The Gaylords.

In 1976, Bonaldi changed his name to Burt Holiday, at which time the group became Gaylord and Holiday. Rea had left the group by that time.

With his first wife, Ronnie had two children: Ronald Jr. and Melissa. With his second wife, Terry, he had three children: two sons (Christopher and Anthony) and one daughter (Tiffany). Three of his children (Tony, Chris, and Tiffany) went into show business.

He died in Reno, Nevada.