OH CANADA!

Bobby Curtola

Robert Allen "Bobby" Curtola (April 17, 1943 – June 4, 2016) was one of Canada's first major rock-and-roll stars and is widely regarded as the country's first true teen idol. Born in Port Arthur (now part of Thunder Bay, Ontario), he began performing as a teenager with a band called Bobby and the Bobcats before launching a successful solo career in 1960. 

Curtola's clean-cut image, smooth tenor voice, and string of hit singles made him a national sensation during the early 1960s. His signature song, "Fortune Teller" (1962), sold more than two million copies worldwide and helped establish him internationally. Other hits such as "Hand in Hand With You," "Hitchhiker," "Aladdin," and "Three Rows Over" made him a fixture on Canadian radio throughout the decade. 

Beyond recording, Curtola hosted television programs, toured extensively across Canada and the United States, and became one of the first Canadian entertainers to secure a long-term, multi-million-dollar contract in Las Vegas. He also became well known for his charity work, earning appointment to the Order of Canada in 1998. He was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2019.