Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons - The Motown Years (2008)

The Four Seasons is an American vocal quartet formed in 1960 in Newark, New Jersey. Since 1970, they have also been known at times as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

The Four Seasons are one of the best-selling musical groups of all time, having sold an estimated 175 million records worldwide.

The band evolved out of a previous band called The Four Lovers, with Frankie Valli as the lead singer, Bob Gaudio on keyboards and tenor vocals, Tommy DeVito on lead guitar and baritone vocals, and Nick Massi on bass guitar and bass vocals. On nearly all of their 1960s hits, they were credited as The 4 Seasons. The band had two distinct lineups that achieved widespread success: the original featuring Valli, Gaudio, DeVito, and Massi (with that success continuing after Joe Long succeeded Massi in 1965) that recorded hits throughout the 1960s, and a 1970s quintet (sometimes billed as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons) consisting of Valli, Lee Shapiro, Gerry Polci, Don Ciccone, and John Paiva, with Gaudio and Long providing studio support.

The legal name of the organization is the Four Seasons Partnership, formed by Gaudio and Valli, and was taken after a failed audition in 1960. Valli and Gaudio (who has been a non-performing member of the group since 1973) each own 50% of the act and its assets, including virtually all of its recording catalog. The touring lineup of the group includes Valli as the sole remaining original member, backed by a separate vocal quartet and a band led by musician Robby Robinson, who has served as the group's music director since 1984. The touring version of The Four Seasons is slated to end after Valli's farewell tour concludes in 2024.

The band's original line-up was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999 and the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2017.