Bobby Hatfield

Before Hall & Oates became the best selling blue eyed soul duo of all time, there was Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley, who teamed up to form the Righteous Brothers. Hatfield, who was born in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin on August 10, 1940 and whose family moved to California soon thereafter, met Medley at California State University, Long Beach. The 22-year-old singer formed the duo with Medley in '62 and they initially sang with a band call the Paramours. After an admirer said of their sound, "That's righteous, brothers," the Righteous Brothers moniker came to be. They first found success with the single "Little Latin Lupe Lu" before their signature hit "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" hit the top of the charts in 1964. Like many other musical duos, they split up, separating in 1968 and briefly reuniting in 1974 for the hit single "Rock and Roll Heaven," which climbed to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. There was another resurgence of interest in the duo when the romantic fantasy "Ghost" (1990) used Hatfield's showcase "Unchained Melody." This haunting version of the pop standard quickly became one of the most familiar romantic song cues in TV and film. The Righteous Brothers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. Unfortunately, later that year, Hatfield died of a cocaine-related heart attack in a hotel room in Kalamazoo, Michigan at the age of 63.