Rob Parissi

Rob Parissi
Birth nameRobert Parissi
Born (1950-12-29) 29 December 1950 (age 73)
Mingo Junction, Ohio, U.S.
OriginSteubenville, Ohio, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active1970–present
Formerly ofWild Cherry

Robert Parissi (born 29 December 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician, best known as frontman for the American funk group Wild Cherry.[1][2] He also wrote the group's only hit, the 1976 chart-topping "Play That Funky Music".[3] He was raised in the steel mill town of Mingo Junction, Ohio. He graduated from Mingo High School in 1968. Rob formed the band Wild Cherry in 1970 in Steubenville, Ohio, one mile north of Mingo Junction along the Ohio River. The band played the Ohio Valley region, Wheeling, West Virginia and the rest of the Northern West Virginia panhandle, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

After Wild Cherry disbanded in 1979 without another major hit, Parissi became a producer and dedicated himself to adult contemporary music. He writes and records smooth jazz and has collaborated with Steve Oliver and Will Donato.

  1. ^ "Vanilla Ice's style freezes". The Telegraph-Herald. 1 February 1991. p. 1. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
  2. ^ Kaufman, Gil (1 April 2009). "Wild Cherry had a huge hit with the song during the 1970s disco era". MTV. p. 1. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
  3. ^ Adams, Deanna R. (13 January 2010). Cleveland's Rock and Roll Roots. Arcadia Publishing. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-7385-7786-9.