Nero colored his renditions of pop songs — from Cole Porter and George Gershwin to the Beatles and Bob Dylan — with classical, swing, Broadway, blues and jazz melodies.
Nero died Thursday at Home Care Assisted Living Facility in Eustis, Fla., according to his daughter, Beverly Nero, The Philadelphia Inquirer He often called his sound “undefinable” and was not offended when others called it “middle of the road.”
In 1975, he lamented to The Washington Post: “I find it impossible to use a lot of the new material that’s coming out. There is some rock material in my repertoire ... but a lot of rock groups are selling a sound, not music. You take the tune apart and there’s nothing there to work with.” He was signed to RCA by Stan Greeson, who saw a potential star and had him change his name to Peter Nero. A steady stream of early 1960s club shows led to regular radio and TV appearances and two dozen RCA albums over the span of a decade.
He also charted with a version of “Theme from `The Summer of ‘42,’” a song written by Michel Legrand for the 1971 movie. Nero’s version hit No. 21 on the Billboard pop singles chart.
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