The Righteous Brothers

They weren’t brothers, but Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield (both born in 1940) were most definitely righteous, defining (and perhaps even inspiring) the term “blue-eyed soul” in the mid-’60s. When Medley and Hatfield combined forces in 1962, they emerged from regional groups the Paramours and the Variations; in fact, they kept the Paramours billing for their first single. By 1963, they were calling themselves the Righteous Brothers, Medley taking the low parts with his smoky baritone, Hatfield taking the higher tenor and falsetto lines.

Following two moderately successful albums The Righteous Brothers teamed up with music producer Phil Spector to record the single “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.” One of the backup singers Spector used in the recording of this song was Cher. The single went to number one in 1964. The Righteous Brothers followed up that with several other hit singles in 1965 including, “Just Once in My Life” and “Unchained Melody.”