Tommy DeVito, founding member of The Four Seasons, dies of COVID-19 at 92

Tommy DeVito, one of the original members of the iconic American pop group The Four Seasons, has died, according to multiple reports. He was 92.

A representative for DeVito’s longtime friend and Four Seasons bandmate Frankie Valli told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that DeVito died Monday night after being hospitalized for weeks due to a coronavirus infection. He was on a ventilator when he died at Siena St. Rose Dominican Hospital in Henderson, Nevada, the Review-Journal reported.

Bobby Valli, Frankie Valli’s brother, also shared news of DeVito’s passing on social media, calling him a “MUSIC LEGEND!”

In a joint statement obtained by the newspaper, Valli and Four Seasons co-founder Bob Gaudio shared well wishes for DeVito’s family.

“He will be missed by all who loved him,” the statement said.

DeVito co-founded The Four Seasons in 1960 alongside Gaudio, Frankie Valli and Nick Massi. The group produced a slew of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, including “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Bye Bye Baby (Baby Goodbye)” and “Walk Like a Man.”

“It was crazy,” DeVito told the Las Vegas Sun in 2008. “We went from making $1,000 a week to $1,000 a day. It was a monster. I think it changed everybody a little bit. Not personality wise. I was the same guy whether I had $40 or $40 million.”

In 1990, The Four Seasons were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with officials noting that, “In the Sixties, few acts had as many hits -- or sounded as unique -- as the Four Seasons.”

The group’s story inspired the 2005 musical “Jersey Boys,” which was adapted into a movie in 2014.