It was on this day in 1982 that the late Bobby Darin received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, 9 years after he passed away.
Bobby burst onto the scene in the 50’s with rock and roll hits like, Splish Splash, Dream Lover, Mack the Knife and Beyond the Sea. In 1962, he began to write and sing country songs like Things, You’re the Reason I’m Living, and Eighteen Yellow Roses.
From Songfacts.com:
Bobby wrote Eighteen Yellow Roses for the mother of actress Sandra Dee. Darin met Dee in 1960 when they were shooting a movie together in Portofino, Italy, called Come September. Darin was smitten, and decided it was best to get in her mother’s good graces. Every day of the 4 week shoot, he sent Dee’s mother 18 yellow roses – this was portrayed in the movie Beyond The Sea with Darin saying, “You always make sure the mama dog likes you before you go near her puppy.” Darin and Sandra Dee eloped later that year, and were married until 1967.
In 1960, in an interview with Life magazine, her said that he wanted to be considered a legend by age 25. Darin knew that he was on borrowed time. He had health issues all his life. He had rheumatic fever a few times as a child and this weakened his heart. Toward the end of his life, he would have to be on oxygen before and after performing.
His heart was so weak that before dental visits, he was suppose to take antibiotics to protect his heart. In 1973, however, he neglected to take his antibiotics and he developed a systemic infection that left him and one of his heart valves weak. He went into to have open heart surgery to repair his heart valves. After a 6 hour procedure, Darin was moved to the recovery room, where he would die shortly after. He was 37 years old.
Eighteen Yellow Roses was a Top Ten record for Bobby, and it was one of those songs with a “surprise” endings.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 