Tony Orlando is much-loved for a string of hits like “Knock Three Times,” “Candida”, “He Don’t Love You,” and others, but he’s best-known for the iconic “Tie A Yellow Ribbon.” It was the No. 1 Billboard Song of the Year in 1973 and went on to become an American anthem of hope, homecoming, and renewal.
He recorded the song on a rainy afternoon in New York, never imagining the impact it would have. Soon after its release, he got a phone call that changed everything.
“I got this call from Bob Hope, who I’d never met, right? And he goes, “Tony, this is Bob ‘Yellow Ribbon Hope,’ Orlando recalls.
“And I said, okay, this is Frank “I Don’t Believe You’ Sinatra.”
As Hope continued speaking, Orlando recognized the voice.
“He said, ‘No, this is really Bob Hope and I’m in a car in Dallas, Texas, and I just heard your song. That opening line “I’m coming home, I’ve done my time,” fits perfectly into a show I’m doing to welcome POWs from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Will you open my show?”
With great honor, Tony Orlando and Dawn (which included singers Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson) performed the song before a massive crowd gathered at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
“We started singing this song and all of a sudden, I’m hearing 70,000 voices sing along with us,” Orlando remembers. “And I look out at the 50-yard line and there are these incredibly brave 500-plus POWs singing it, too. Their eyes hadn’t even adjusted to daylight; they were just out of the Hanoi Hilton.”
In the 50 years since, the song, and the idea of tying yellow ribbons, has symbolized coming home.
“The 444 days the hostages were held in Iran, when they came home there were yellow ribbons all over the country. In Desert Storm, they used that yellow ribbon logo, then, in Iraq and Afghanistan. I went to Iraq and every 19- and 20-year-old was singing “Yellow Ribbon” right along with me.”
Orlando remains grateful for the song that’s meant so much to the American public and to his career, but he’s quick to give credit to songwriters L. Russell Brown and Irwin Levine.
“I was just the mailman that delivered the letter.”
Gratitude is an ongoing theme with Orlando. As a young man growing up in New York, he never even made it to high school. He still finds it hard to believe he’s had an entertainment career that’s lasted more than six decades.
“I would have been happy with 64 minutes of show business, and it’s been 64 years since I had my first hit record with Carol King (a song called “Halfway to Paradise”). This is an eighth grade kid that’s worked for eight presidents, who’s been able to work in every single venue you could dream of, who’s been able to raise money for veterans in a serious way. Can you imagine how blessed I’ve been?”
In addition to five No. 1 hits, numerous awards, and the chance to perform all over the world, Orlando made TV history with a variety show that aired on CBS in the mid-1970s called Tony Orlando and Dawn.
“We were the first multi-racial group to ever have a show on television,” he says. “And they didn’t know what was going to happen. They were worried about getting hate letters, but there was just a minimal amount of hate mail. We realized the country had taken a big step forward.”
Orlando has just wrapped up a handful of shows on a Farewell Tour he announced earlier this year. His final show is tonight (March 22) at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
He’s still drawing the crowds, but a variety of factors, including the stress of travel with the high cost of airfare for a full band and flight delays that can lead to missed gigs, led to the realization it’s time to come off the road.
“I’ve been wanting to flex other creative muscles that I haven’t been able to due to my schedule,” he says. “For instance, I just finished writing two screenplays. I don’t know if they’ll do well, but I’ve had a ball writing them! And I just finished a Broadway show.”
The Broadway show is called “Rooftop Dreams” and tells Orlando’s real-life story as to how he got his start in music. It all began with the little sister he helped raise.
“My sister was the spark, the piston to my life, really,” he says. “She was severely brain damaged and they said she had the IQ of a nine-month-old baby. And the first time I picked up a guitar was to play for her. The music helped stop her seizures, so she became my first audience. And the play pays tribute to this child who inspired her brother to become who he became.”
So, as he stops touring, he has much to keep him busy. He’s started his own production company, will continue to do live performances on occasion, and hosts his own radio show. It’s called Saturday Nights With Tony Orlando and airs on 77WABC Music Radio in New from 10pm to midnight. The shows streams worldwide on:
As he looks to the future, Orlando is excited about whatever comes next, and thankful for a lifetime of opportunities, so far.
“I’ve had all this wonderful stuff happen to me and I’m so appreciative of what God has blessed me with here,” he says. “It’s been a dream journey, seriously.”
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