Spotify
Apple Podcasts
Amazon Music
CastBox
PocketCasts
RSS
YouTubeFrom Jersey Prodigy to Four Seasons
Lee Shapiro, born in Passaic, New Jersey, grew up in Glen Rock with a natural knack for keyboards. At just 11, he watched The Four Seasons on The Ed Sullivan Show and thought, “Hey—they have a piano player. That’s me someday.”
As a teenager, Lee gravitated toward big band jazz—Count Basie, Buddy Rich—and by high school, he was orchestrating. At 18, he led an 18-piece jazz band in Garfield, NJ, which ultimately caught the ear of The Four Seasons’ road manager.
Joining Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
In 1973, at just 19 years old, Lee auditioned to replace Bob Gaudio as keyboardist and in-house arranger for the Four Seasons. His first task? Composing a fanfare and overture—he bluffed through it, and lead singer Frankie Valli loved it. That was the start of a seven-year chapter as their keyboardist and musical director.
Modernizing the Four Seasons' Sound
Lee helped modernize The Four Seasons’ sound for the 1970s. He arranged and played on their mid-’70s chart-toppers like “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” and “Who Loves You,” songs that reestablished the band as a force in pop music. When “Who Loves You” was recorded, Lee added the string arrangement himself, conducting top orchestral players—quite a moment for someone in his early 20s.
In those years, Lee wasn’t just performing: he shaped the sound, toured globally with Frankie Valli, and steered the band through a Michael-era revival, helping bring hits like “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” “Sherry,” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry” back to new audiences.
After the Four Seasons: A Creative Renaissance
Lee stepped away from touring with The Four Seasons around 1981 to build a more settled life. He had married and settled in New Jersey. Yet he never stopped creating. Throughout the ’80s and ’90s, Lee kept busy—writing songs with top hitmakers like L. Russell Brown, Sandy Linzer, and Irwin Levine; composing jingles for major brands and orchestrating for Barry Manilow’s Copacabana, The Musical.
Rock N Roll Elmo - The Invention of a Lifetime
In 1999, Lee co-invented the Rock ’n’ Roll Elmo (and Rock ’n’ Roll Ernie) dolls for Fisher-Price—playful singing toys that ultimately sold 4 million units, earning Shapiro royalties substantial enough to match everything he’d made in music.
The Hit Men
In 2010, with the success of the Broadway musical Jersey Boys rekindling interest in Four Seasons music, Lee founded The Hit Men, a “supergroup” of seasoned session and touring musicians from legendary acts. Frankie Valli, ever supportive, gave his blessing and Lee recruited former Seasons members like Gerry Polci and Don Ciccone (before his passing), and others from acts like Cheap Trick, Carly Simon, Carole King, the Ramones, and Blood, Sweat & Tears.
The Hit Men toured across the USA, serving up classics from Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons with polished musicianship. Lee’s promise? “You’ll leave the show happier and younger than when you got there.” In 2018, Lee even released a solo piano tribute album, Lee Shapiro Plays the Greatest Hits of Frankie Valli, reimagining those timeless melodies.
Lee's Personal Health Battle
In 2014, Lee was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis—but he soldiered on, touring with The Hit Men for years thereafter. Today he’s no longer performing but remains the driving force and manager of the band This week Lee Shapiro joins us to share his incredible story.
