Cory Wells, born Emil Lewandowski on 5 February 1941, in Buffalo, New York USA, was a singer, best known as one of the lead vocalists of the band Three Dog Night.
A famous singer, how rich was Cory Wells? Sources state that Wells had acquired a net worth of over $4 million. His wealth had been accumulated during his long singing career. He died in October 2015 from the effects of blood cancer.
Cory Wells Net Worth $4 Million
Wells’ father died when he was a small boy and his mother eventually remarried – although she gave the boy her last name, as his father was actually married to someone else, Wells later took his father’s last name, contracting Wellsley to Wells. He grew up in a bad neighborhood and in a constant financial struggle. Even worse was his family surrounding, as he was raised by an abusive stepfather. Hailing from a musical family, Wells played in several local bands while in his teens, such as the Fidelitones and Satellites. He attended Burgard High School in Buffalo and upon matriculating he joined the US Air Force, in which he formed a mixed-race band, singing pop and doo-wop.
When he came back to Buffalo, Wells joined a rock band called the Vibratos and traveled to California with them, changing their name to The Enemies. The band soon began performing at Hollywood clubs, eventually becoming the house band at the Whiskey a-Go-Go club for a year, after which they got a chance to tour with Sonny and Cher. They appeared in the movies “Harper” and “Riot on Sunset Strip” and in the series”Burke’s Law” and “The Beverly Hillbillies”. The Enemies recorded several singles, including “Hey Joe” and “Sinner Man”, and Wells’ net worth started to rise. The band split in 1967, and the singer moved to Arizona and formed a blues band called “The Cory Wells Blues Band”.
However, the following year he returned to California to become a founding member of the popular rock band Three Dog Night, sharing the lead vocals with two other singers, Danny Hutton and Chuck Negron and creating a new three-part harmony sound. Other band mates included drummer Floyd Sneed, keyboardist Jimmy Greenspoon, bassist Joe Schermie and guitarist Michael Allsup. The band achieved huge success, playing across America to extremely large audiences. Wells’ wealth was boosted.
Three Dog Night had 12 gold albums and 21 consecutive singles in the American Top 40, with seven of them going gold, throughout the early- to mid-1970’s. Their most famous hit was the 1970 “Mama Told Me Not to Come” written by Randy Newman with Wells’ vocals. It reached No 3 in the UK and No 1 in the US. Other hits include “One”, “Joy to the World” and “Black and White”, but in 1976 the band split.
Wells released a solo album called “Touch Me” for A&M Records in 1978, but it wasn’t successful like those he had recorded while with the band. “Three Dog Night” came back together in 1981 to record an EP “It’s a Jungle” in 1983. Wells, Hutton and some of the other band members went on to tour and release albums such as the 2002 “Three Dog Night With The London Symphony Orchestra”, the 2004 “The 35th Anniversary Hits Collection Featuring The London Symphony Orchestra” and the 2008 “Three Dog Night Greatest Hits Live” as well as several singles.
In addition to music, Wells was a keen fisherman. He wrote fishing articles for magazines such as Outdoor Life and Field & Stream and filmed several episodes of “The American Sportsman”.
When it comes to his private life, Wells had been married to Mary J. (Catelano) Wells for 50 years, with whom he had two daughters.
He was involved in charities along with his band mates who once made donations to the Child Abuse Prevention Center, with Wells promoting its caps made to sell and raise money. He also participated in various charity fishing tournaments around the USA.
Corey Wells passed away in October 2015, being aged 74. Reportedly, he died of an infection related to blood cancer that he had been suffering from.
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