A look back at David Cassidy’s dazzling career on his 68th birthday
Today is April 12, which means it would have been David Cassidy’s birthday.
For many Baby Boomers, Cassidy was somewhat of an icon in the 1970s. Chances are you had a poster of the Partridge Family star plastered on your bedroom wall at one point in time.
While he sadly passed away last November, the ‘Daydreamer’ singer is still very much a part of his fans’ lives. For most, he made his first impression when he was cast as Keith in The Partridge Family. Not to be confused with rival TV family The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family told the story of a widowed mother, Shirley, who found herself singing in a band with her five kids.
One of them was Cassidy, who, for four seasons and 96 episodes, is often credited for the show’s success. As well as dominating the small screen, the fictional family made quite the impact on the music industry, scoring a No. 1 hit with ‘I think I love you’ and a Grammy nomination in 1971.
If that wasn’t enough, Cassidy himself earned a following of mainly teenage girls who ensured he was as popular as Elvis and The Beatles, who were also massively popular at the time. In fact, a recent article published by Rolling Stone claims that at the height of his fame in the 1970s, Cassidy’s fan club was bigger than both Elvis and The Beatles combined.
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As many child stars tend to do, it wasn’t long until Cassidy began to shed his “boy next door” image. He began appearing shirtless on magazine covers and openly discussed using drugs and alcohol. The two would later become a huge problem for Cassidy, who eventually fought a long battle with addiction.
He went on to break away from the show that made him a household name and released a number of successful solo albums, while also working and influencing a number of other successful artists including George Michael, Carl Wilson and even Bruce Johnston.
In February of 2017, Cassidy announced he had dementia, shocking his adoring fans around the world. Later that year in November, he suffered multiple organ failure and eventually died. His Partridge Family mum and real-life step mother was one of the first to pay her respects.
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“Long before he played my son on The Partridge Family, David Cassidy was my stepson in real life,” the actress told Entertainment Tonight.
“As a little boy, his sweet sensitivity and wicked sense of humour were already on display, and I will treasure the years we spent working and growing together. I will also find solace knowing that David is now with his dad.”
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Still, fans around the world are looking back at the happier times of Cassidy’s life. Many have already declared April 12 as David Cassidy Day, with super-fan Timm McCoy will be playing 12 hours of continuous Cassidy music, ranging from his Partridge Family days to his later hits.
How will you be remembering Cassidy today?
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