Frankie Valli, 89, weds for the fourth time
Legendary singer Frankie Valli and former CBS-TV marketing executive Jackie Jacobs were wed Monday in Las Vegas, marking the 89-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s fourth marriage.
"It's terrific to have found love once again at this stage of my life," Valli — whose hits solo and with the Four Seasons include “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” and “Grease” — told People magazine.
The couple met in 2007 and began dating in 2015. Jacobs, whose age People gives as 60, has accompanied Valli to numerous red-carpet events, including the October 2016 revival of his 2012 concert series “Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons on Broadway.”
They exchanged vows at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, where Valli and the Four Seasons are set to begin a 14-performance run at its International Theater beginning on Oct. 26-27, with additional show dates continuing in 2024. Jacobs, a Maryland native and University of Maryland College Park alumna, walked down the aisle in a white bridal gown as Valli’s 1967 hit “Can't Take My Eyes Off You” played.
“We met at a restaurant in Los Angeles where he joined my friends and [me] for dinner," Jacobs told People. "We kept in touch by phone until he called me and asked for a date in late 2015 and we've been together ever since.”
Valli in March said Jacobs has helped spur him to keep performing well into his 80s. “It’s nice to have somebody great in your life, which I’m very, very thrilled with,” he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It keeps me young … . It’s motivating.”
Valli wed Mary Mandell aka Mary Delgado, in June 1957, becoming stepfather to her daughter Celia and having two children together, daughters Antonia and Francine, before divorcing around 1971. Celia died in an accidental fall from a fire escape in 1980 — some sources erroneously say auto accident — and Francine died that August of what Valli called a drug overdose. He married Mary Ann Hannigan in 1974, divorcing around 1982, and was married to Randy Clohessy from 1984 until separating in September 2004 and subsequently divorcing. The couple had sons Francesco, and twins Emilio and Brando.
Valli plays the NYCB Theatre at Westbury on Nov. 30.