Bobby Lewis, singer of "Tossin' & Turnin'," died on April 28 after contracting pneumonia. The news —initiallyreportedbut not widely circulated in late April — was announced byhis granddaughter Sabreen LaRae Simmonson Facebook, and has been confirmed toBillboardby his son, the author Zain Abdullah.
He was 95. Lewis was born in Indianapolis and raised in an orphanage, eventually moving to a foster home in Detroit at age 12.
When he was 14, he ran away from home and began to perform as a singer, eventually moving to New York. After spending some time on Mercury Records, he was convinced by singer-songwriter Ritchie Adams to record a song he'd co-written as a one-off for the smaller Beltone label.