Michael "Jimmy" Roselli

Singer Jimmy Roselli is dead at 85. He passed away peacefully Thursday from heart complications at his Clearwater Beach, Florida home.
Roselli was known as one of the most significant Italian-American pop singers of his time -- this during an era of pretty steep competition from other crooners like Frank Sinatra, Al Martino, Perry Como, Jerry Vale and Dean Martin.
A Hoboken native, Roselli started singing at age 9 in local saloons and restaurants and like Sinatra, his break came at 14 when he won the "Major Bowe's Amateur Hour" on the radio. Roselli's natural tenor was pitch perfect for the old songs of Naples and he was one of the few artists to popularize Neapolitan music stateside.
His biggest pop hit was 1964's "There Must Be A Way," originally recorded by Joni James. It reached No. 93 on the pop charts. Another hit came a year later with "Mala Femmena" and peaked at No. 43 on the Easy Listening charts.
His rendition of "When Your Old Wedding Ring Was New" twice appeared in the UK Singles Chart. It peaked at No. 51 in 1983 and in 1987 at No. 52.
Under United Artists, he delivered roughly 35 albums and he often appeared to packed crowds at the legendary 500 Club in Atlantic City. In 1969, he and comic Pat Cooper debuted their two man show at Broadway's Palace Theatre. He also appeared three times on the Ed Sullivan Show and numerous engagements at the Copacabana in New York. (Trivia: Roselli was the only artist to appear twice in the same year at the Copa).
He retired in 2004. Roselli is survived by wife, Donna, daughter Anne Roselli and a grandson, Michael Bernstein.
A Funeral Mass will be held Tuesday, July 5, 2011, 10 a.m. at St. Ann's Catholic Church , 704 Jefferson St. Hoboken. The family requests in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the American Heart Association, 7272 Greenville Ave. Dallas, Tx. 75231.

Arrangements under the direction of Moss Feaster Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Clearwater, FL.