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Frankie Valli is telling the world that he has not retired, contrary to reports over the last few days from multiple news outlet that took at face value a statement posted by his younger brother that his time in show
business was indeed at a close.
“He is not retired. This is false,” his longtime representative, Victoria Varela, told Variety Friday, shortly after another entertainment publication ran with a “Frankie Valli retires from performing after 60 years on the stage” headline. (For the record, Valli has actually been performing for 75 years.)
Friday afternoon, Valli himself issued a short statement, posted to his social accounts: “In spite of what you might have heard, I am not retired. – Frankie.”
In making the statement, the 92-year-old pop legend was disavowing a claim made by Bobby Valli, who published a post on Facebook Wednesday that said, in part, “He will now retire. We will always have special memories of Frankie Valli. He has reached a place in his life where his family is there to love, cherish and to be there for him… We appreciate your love and concern.”
Speculation that Valli might be ready to retire from show business grew in May after the performer canceled all of the remaining dates on what had been billed as a farewell tour, called “The Last Encores.” “I’m so sorry to disappoint the folks who have purchased tickets to my shows,” he wrote on social media May 31, “but I have decided to take the rest of the year off from touring to focus on my health. I’m looking forward to getting healthy and seeing you all again soon. Thank you for all your good wishes.”
Following that announcement, his longtime representative told Variety that Valli still had hopes of resuming performing next year. Victoria Varela said that with his latest health issues, a decision was made to cancel shows rather than postpone them, in consideration of fans who would otherwise have their money held in limbo while he works to regain his health. “Promoters want to prolong things and not give people their money back,” she said, “but he realized he needed to take a break and get his health in order, and that is the true issue. He wants to get better without prolonging, through the rescheduling process, the pain of people who’ve bought these tickets.”
The singer last performed Feb. 22, at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula.
Valli found fame as the lead singer of the Four Seasons and eventually as a solo artist in the 1960s with smashes like “Walk Like a Man,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Rag Doll” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2026. His life and career were the basis of a musical, “Jersey Boys,” that ran on Broadway from 2005-2017 and was adapted into a musical film by director Clint Eastwood in 2014.
