Joanie Sommers born 24February 1941

Born Joan Drost in Buffalo, New York, Sommers began singing in church to deal with "a difficult childhood". In 1951, aged 10, she appeared on a Buffalo television program singing Hank Williams'"Your Cheating Heart", winning an amateur talent contest. In 1955, her family relocated to Venice, California, where she went on to win honors as a vocalist with her high school band at Venice High, and did so again at Santa Monica City College. Her break came after a friend took her to the Deauville Country Club (now Braemar Country Club) where she sang with Tommy Oliver whose band was in residence at the time. He arranged for a demo record to be cut and presented it to Warner Brothers, whereupon Sommers was signed to the label. 

Warner initially used her vocal talents singing "Am I Blue" on a 1959 Warner specialty record, Behind Closed Doors at a Recording Session, and on one side of the spoken-word single "Kookie's Love Song" with Edd Byrnes. The pairing with Byrnes led to a small role in 77 Sunset Strip, the television series featuring Byrnes in the role of Kookie. In addition, she sang on Byrnes' I Don't Dig You and Hot Rod Rock which appeared on one of his albums. Concurrently, Tommy Oliver supported Sommers by starring her in his orchestra engagements at California venues Hollywood Palladium and The Chalet at Lake Arrowhead. 

Her 1960 debut single "One Boy" (from the musical Bye Bye Birdie) charted for three months, peaking at #54 on the Billboard Top 100. Both "One Boy" and the flip side "I'll Never Be Free" were Billboard Spotlight Winners. A subsequent touring schedule included venues such as New York's Left Bank Club, Hollywood's Crescendo, Freddie's in Minneapolis, and The Cloister in Chicago, and appearances on the Jack Paar Show and Bobby Darin Special. 

In early 1960, Warner released Sommers' first LP, Positively the Most, which did not include the One Boy hit single. Later that year, Warner released the single "Ruby-Duby-Du", featuring a vocal version of the Tobin Mathews & Co. instrumental from the movie Key Witness. 

The record did not chart. In 1962, her single "Johnny Get Angry", released on Warner Bros. Records, reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. "When the Boys Get Together" charted at #94 later the same year. In a 2001 interview, Sommers commented on the legacy of her greatest hit: "Twenty albums with some of the greatest names in jazz and I'm eternally linked to 'Johnny Get Angry'". 

Throughout the 1960s Sommers appeared on television as a singer and game show contestant, including shows such as Everybody's Talking, Hollywood Squares, You Don't Say, and The Match Game, as well as a performer on Dick Clark's Where the Action Is, Hullabaloo, and other variety shows. In 1963, she appeared on the January 22 segment of The Jack Benny Program, where she sang "I'll Never Stop Loving You"; another guest was actor Peter Lorre. 

Her 1965 track, "Don't Pity Me" (Warner Bros. 5629 – "Don't Pity Me"/"My Block"), was a Northern Soul hit in the UK and often features on Northern Soul top lists. The 45RPM record routinely changes hands among collectors at over $500 a copy. The latter song, "My Block", was written by Jimmy Radcliffe, Bert Berns and Carl Spencer and had previously been recorded by Clyde McPhatter on his Songs Of the Big City album and by The Chiffons, recording as The Four Pennies on Rust Records. 

In a parallel career track of commercial vocal work, Sommers sang "It's Pepsi, For Those Who Think Young" (to the tune of "Makin' Whoopee") and, later, "Come Alive! You're in the Pepsi Generation" in commercials. She came to be referred to as "The Pepsi Girl". 

Sommers' voice work for animated films includes The Peppermint Choo Choo, which was scrubbed, although the music was released; Rankin/Bass' The Mouse on the Mayflower as Priscilla Mullins (1968); and B.C.: The First Thanksgiving (1973) in dual roles as the Fat Broad and the Cute Chick. Sommers was married to theatrical agent Jerry Steiner from 1961 until his sudden death in 1972 after which she withdrew from show business to focus on family life. Before retiring, she made numerous television appearances on the shows of Johnny Carson, Dinah Shore, Dean Martin, Mike Douglas, Bobby Darin, and others.