The Lettermen co-founder Tony Butala, known for ‘The Way You Look Tonight,’ dead at 87

Tony Butala, co-founder and last surviving member of The Lettermen’s original line-up, has died aged 87. The Grammy-nominated trio became one of the best-known vocal groups of the 1960s, and Butala helped sustain its distinctive three-part sound across decades of touring and changing line-ups.

Born in Pennsylvania in 1938, Butala began singing professionally at seven and appeared in films as a child after moving to Los Angeles. The Lettermen’s 1961 version of “The Way You Look Tonight” reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned a Grammy nomination; the group later placed 19 more songs on the charts. Butala stopped performing in 2019, and he and the group received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2020. The band says there will be no public viewing, with memorial events in Wisconsin and California to be announced later.