Black Sheep was a popular band in the mid 1970s, playing local clubs like the Penny Arcade and many high school gymnasiums for dances. But the band’s talents secured attention and Black Sheep was soon signed by two labels. First with Chrysalis, as the label’s first artist in the United States, and then Capitol Records. And it is legend here in Rochester and the world of rock that the famed lead singer of Black Sheep was Louis Grammatico, more famously known as Lou Gramm.
Black Sheep recorded a single in 1974 and then two albums in 1975 and supported those albums by performing as the opening act for Aerosmith, Peter Frampton, Hall & Oates, Todd Rundgren, Ted Nugent, and Blue Oyster Cult. Capitol Records put Black Sheep on tour with Kiss, but their Boston date on the “Kiss Alive!” tour was their last — since the band’s equipment was destroyed enroute home to Rochester in an accident on an icy Thruway.
The bandmates’ parents were unable to bail them out financially and the label did not step up with support to buy new instruments and equipment. Instead Black Sheep was replaced on the Kiss tour. Soon after Mick Jones of Spooky Tooth came calling on the guy with the stellar pipes, Lou Gramm, to join his new band, and the Black Sheep bandmates encouraged Lou to audition. The rest is history, Lou reaching incredible heights with Foreigner and the talented members of Black Sheep each forging new musical career paths. In October Gramm was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the band Foreigner.
The past members of Black Sheep being inducted at the April concert and ceremony will be Gramm, Don Mancuso, Larry Crozier, Mike Bonefede, Ron Rocco, and Bruce Turgon. Gramm was inducted into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame in 2013 and with the 2025 induction will be the first to be inducted twice.
The bond among the bandmates remains strong, and Black Sheep has reunited for live shows three times in the last two decades. Their next reunion will be the Hall of Fame concert and ceremony at Eastman Theatre on April 13.