Tony Butala, the last surviving original member of The Lettermen, died Sunday at 87.
Tracy Clark, the vocal trio’s media coordinator, confirmed his death to the outlet and shared an official statement from the band. Butala was the group’s founding tenor and the linchpin of its lush three-part harmonies for more than six decades.
“We have lost an integral member of The Lettermen family,” the statement read. “It is with profound sadness that we announce the recent passing of Tony Butala, founding member of the international recording artists ‘The Lettermen,’ and recipient of a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Our most heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with his children, grandchildren, siblings, the love of his life, the entire Lettermen organization and all who knew and loved him.”
There will be no public viewing. Celebrations of life are planned for Wisconsin and California, with details to come later, Clark said.
Born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, in 1938, Butala launched his career before he reached grade school. He sang professionally at age 7, landed a spot on KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh at 8, and by 10 had relocated to Los Angeles with his mother. There he joined the Mitchell Boys Choir and appeared in classic Hollywood films including “White Christmas,” “Peter Pan,” “War of the Worlds” and “On Moonlight Bay.”
In the late 1950s, Butala formed The Lettermen alongside Jim Pike and Bob Engemann. The trio’s breakthrough arrived in 1961 with their version of “The Way You Look Tonight,” the Fred Astaire standard that climbed to No. 13 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and earned a Grammy nomination the following year. The 1962 Grammy ceremony also brought them a Best New Artist nomination.
“Tony never met a stranger,” the band’s statement continued. “His life was a living example of talent, perseverance, and refinement. But above all, his true joy was entertaining and sharing his music with audiences worldwide.”
The hits kept coming across the decade. The Lettermen placed 19 more songs on Billboard charts, with two cracking the Top 10: 1962’s “When I Fall in Love” and the Grammy-nominated 1968 medley “Goin’ Out of My Head/Can’t Take My Eyes off You.” Their final chart entry, “Everything is Good About You,” arrived in 1971.
The group maintained a relentless touring schedule, playing colleges nationwide and venues around the globe. Through multiple lineup changes across the decades, The Lettermen preserved its signature trio format. The current configuration features Donovan Tea, Bobby Poynton and Rob Gulack.
Butala outlived both his original partners. Engemann died in 2013; Pike, whose vocals anchored hits including “When I Fall in Love,” died in 2019 at 82 from complications of Parkinson’s disease. Butala stepped away from performing that same year, closing a run that had stretched from childhood radio spots to sold-out concert halls.
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce honored Butala and The Lettermen with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2020.