Bill Medley opens up about the Righteous Brothers’ farewell tour
ANAHEIM, CALIF.
After six decades as a Righteous Brother, Bill Medley says it’s time.
It’s time to leave the road he’s traveled as one of the Righteous Brothers, first with Bobby Hatfield (until his death in 2003) and since 2016 with replacement Bucky Heard.
Time to sit back and — well, Medley’s not quite sure what comes next.
“Boy, you know, that’s a great question, and obviously that’s the real thought,” Medley says from his longtime home of Newport Beach. “Because I don’t — I’ve been so busy in the business and traveling and going and doing I don’t know.
“My wife Paula passed away a little over three years ago, and I never realized until she was gone, you know, you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone,” the 83-year-old Orange County native says. “And so I don’t know what I’m going to do.
“I’d like to keep writing and maybe produce,” he says. “I would love to find a younger artist that I could hopefully kind of groom a little bit. Show them some short cuts. Yeah, I’d love to do that.
“But other than that, man, I’ll tell you, I don’t know. You’ll probably see me walking up and down Santa Ana, saying, ‘You want to buy a record?’ ”
The Righteous Brothers, who were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, are best known for such hits as “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” “Unchained Melody” and “(You’re
My) Soul and Inspiration.”
We first met Medley in 2007 to talk about the 20th anniversary of “(I’ve Had) The Time of My
Life,” his duet with Jennifer Warnes for the movie “Dirty Dancing,” which reached No. 1 on the charts and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and an Oscar. And we’ve checked in with him over the years as other news of his career as a solo artist and Righteous Brothers arose.
So when news of the Righteous Brothers’
Thank You, Farewell Tour arrived, we rang him up again to talk about why he’s leaving the road, the dreams he had as a young artist before stardom arrived, and what comes next.
Q: start with the title of the tour — Thank You, Farewell — and ask if it means what it sounds like, and how you came to that decision.
A: we really haven’t figured it all out. There’s still some contracts and stuff that we have to fulfill. But it’s slowly but surely coming to an end.
Q: that now is the time, what played into your thought process?
A: It’s that simple, man. I love to do the shows. I just love the shows. But the traveling is just getting worse and worse. You know, I’m 83 and when I was a kid, it was pretty exciting. But doing the job, doing the show, well, I’ve always said, “You’re paying me to travel. You don’t pay me to do the show. The show’s frosting on the cake.”
Q: think the last time we talked was when you were about to team up with Bucky Heard and tour again as the Righteous Brothers. What’s that been like to have a duo partner again?
A: just been really exciting. It’s been wonderful. He’s a great singer, and more important, he’s a wonderful, wonderful guy. We have just become the best of friends, and I just love him. If I couldn’t have Bobby, Bucky certainly was the guy to fill in for Bob. It’s just been phenomenal.
Q: me ask you a couple of questions about the early days, when you were a teenager or in your early 20s, just starting to write and perform and record. How big did you let yourself dream that music might be a career for you?
A: was raised in Santa Ana and a friend of mine asked me, he had written a song, and he wanted me to sing it because he heard that I could sing. And I never took my singing serious at all, except for when I was in choir I had to take it serious. But you know, I don’t think I allowed myself to think about being successful as a songwriter or singer.
I was just doing what I loved to. I’d sit in the house there and play the piano for 12 hours. Drive my mom nuts. But yeah, you know I don’t ever remember thinking, boy, this is what I want to do. The dream was just so far away.
Q: I was prepping for this call, I realized that in November it had been 20 years since Bobby died. How did you feel when that anniversary came up?
A: daughter [McKenna Medley] called me right away. I knew, anyway. A lot of people called me and I think I put something on the website.
And I went to the grave, the gravesite [in Corona Del Mar] just to tell him I missed him. We were together quite a while, and you become real brothers, you know. I know that sounds stupid, and everybody says it, but you really do become brothers, the good, bad and the ugly.
Brothers.
But yeah, I miss him a lot. I thought about him for about a month after that.
Q: when you do wrap up the farewell tour?
A: don’t know. I mean, I would like to think I would enjoy a normal life until I’m out of here. Like just maybe go to the show, have some dinners. You know, I’ve met a lady. I have a lady and that’s gonna help a great deal. But I don’t really have any flat-out plans.
Q: saw on McKenna’s Instagram that you’ve got a new grandchild, so you can be a grandpa for a while, too.
A: a grandpa and I’m a great-grandpa. My son made me a greatgrandpa. So yeah, that’s another thing. I would really love to spend more time with the kids, the grandchildren and greatgrandchildren.