The Love and Music of Steve and Eydie

Introduction to Steve and Eydie

Steve and Eydie were an American husband-and-wife singing duo, Steve Lawrence (birth name Sidney Leibowitz) and Eydie Gorme (birth name Edith Garmezano). They were particularly active during the 50s music and the 60s music era.  Steve and Eydie first met on The Tonight Show, where it was then hosted by Steve Allen; they married in 1957. Together the married pair embarked on a professional singing career, their biggest achievement ever being winners of the 1960 Grammy for Best Performance by a Vocal Group for We Got Us album.  They have also performed on TV shows.  Eydie Gorme has officially retired from touring in 2009 for health reasons, making her husband embark on a solo tour. Gorme died in 2013.

While still very much a couple professionally, Steve and Eydie are also successful in their own right as solo performers – with Steve having won several awards and scored a #1 hit with “Go Away Little Girl”, and Eydie having enjoyed her biggest success with the hit single”Blame It On The Bossa Nova” in 1963.  As a couple, their highest-charting Billboard Hot 100 single was 1963’s “I Want to Stay Here.” 

Who were Steve and Eydie?

The American pop vocal duet Steve and Eydie was formed in 1957 comprising of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. Lawrence was born Sidney Leibowitz on July 8, 1935 in Brooklyn, New York while Gorme was born Edith Gormezano (or Garmezano) on August 16, 1928 in The Bronx, New York.  Aside from being partners in making music, they were also a couple in real life.

Their musical career and their marriage

Both performing as solo artists before they got married, in 1953, Steve and Eydie met on Steve Allen’s The Tonight Show where Gorme was a guest. There, she met Lawrence who was a regular singer on the show. The following year, they issued their first recording as a duo called “Make Yourself Comfortable.”

In the midst of their popularity, the two got married in Las Vegas in December 1957. Their marriage helped to boost their careers, they even had their television show which entitled The Steve Lawrence-Eydie Gorme Show. In the early 1960’s, the pair’s momentum slowed down due to Lawrence’s calling for military service as well as Gorme’s focus on motherhood. However, their first duo album, We Got Us earned a Grammy Award.

The couple achieved their first hit with “I Want to Stay Here” which reached #28 on the Billboard pop chart in 1963. It was followed by another Top 40 pop hit “I Can’t Stop Talking About You.”

After the Beatlemania craze struck the U.S., Eydie and Gorme returned into recording in 1967 and released the album Together on Broadway. They came up with the album after co-starring in Golden Rainbow, a Broadway musical. In 1972, they had their last visit on the chart with “We Can Make it Together” which was written and performed along with The Osmonds. It peaked at #7 on the U.S. adult contemporary chart. Recorded under the alias Parker and Penny, they released their last record “Hallelujah” which charted on adult contemporary chart at #49.

In late 2000’s, Lawrence had to go on a tour alone for the first time, without his wife Eydie. It was confirmed on their official website in 2010 that Eydie would be retiring due to health reasons. On August 10, 2013, Eydie Gorme died after years of battling her sickness.