Ronnie & the Hi-Lites

Ronnie & the Hi-Lites

Ronnie & The Hi-Lites was a doo-wop musical group from the United States formed in Jersey City, New Jersey in the early 1960s. On March 31, 1962, their song "I Wish That We Were Married" charted and rose to number 16 nationally on the Top 20 on Billboard Hot 100 chart spending 12 weeks on the charts. Selling over half a million copies, the song put 14-year-old Ronnie Goodson and company on the map, paving the way for performances alongside Stevie Wonder, Major Lance and Ronnie's girlfriend Eva Boyd, better known as Little Eva ("The Locomotion"). They subsequently appeared on American Bandstand, at The Apollo and numerous venues throughout the east coast. The group originally called the Cascades, initially consisted of tenors Sonny Caldwell and John Whitney, bass singer Kenny Overby and baritone Stanley Brown. Adding 12-year-old Ronnie Goodson as their lead singer, they were soon introduced to songwriter/producer team Marion & Hal Weiss, who offered them "I Wish That We Were Married", a-side to "Twistin' and Kissin'". The small independent record label Joy Records (New York) picked up the group’s recording and renamed the ensemble Ronnie & the Hi-Lites. They subsequently released the single and the group went on to record fifteen more singles, without troubling the chart compilers ever again. Ronnie Goodson died in his sleep at the age of 33 on November 4, 1980.

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