Music
Jack Scott
1936–2019 · singer, songwriter
Rockabilly and ballad singer of “My True Love” and “What in the World's Come Over You,” who grew up in Hazel Park and lived in the Detroit suburbs all his life.
- Born
Windsor, Ontario, Canada- Died
Warren, Michigan
aged 83- Birth name
- Giovanni Domenico Scafone Jr.
- Detroit years
- 1946–2019
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Jack Scott was born Giovanni Scafone Jr. in Windsor, Ontario, across the river from Detroit, to Italian-American parents. When he was ten his family moved to Hazel Park, a working-class suburb just north of Detroit, and he lived there for most of his life. Singing and writing his own songs, he blended rockabilly, country and a deep baritone suited to ballads. In 1958 his double-sided single “My True Love” and “Leroy” made the national Top 20, and he followed with hits such as “Goodbye Baby,” “What in the World's Come Over You” and “Burning Bridges” in 1960, when he was one of the few early rock and rollers who wrote most of his own material. Unlike many stars of his era, he never left the area for good, performing for decades on the Detroit oldies circuit. He was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2007. He later moved to Sterling Heights and died after a heart attack at a Warren hospital in 2019, at 83.
Highlights
- Moved to Hazel Park from Windsor at age ten
- “My True Love” / “Leroy” (1958), a two-sided hit
- “What in the World's Come Over You” and “Burning Bridges” (1960)
- Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame, 2007
- Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, 2011