Rhino Factoids: Bobby Darin’s Last Concert

42 years ago today, Bobby Darin performed what would prove to be his final concert.

It took place at the Las Vegas Hilton, the last date in a residency Darin had maintained at the hotel since the previous month, but his health was beginning to fail even more than it already had in the previous months. As TK Kellman, a member of Darin's band recalled of the Hilton stint on TVParty.com, “Bobby, who was unquestionably the consummate performer, would incorporate false exits and 'bows' in the show so he could duck briefly backstage and suck on an oxygen mask for a few seconds before returning to the stage.”

Darin wasn't kidding himself about the state of his health, nor was he pulling any punches when discussing it with his band.

“I remember we were all sitting in the living room one night at Tommy Amato's house,” Kellman told TVParty.com. “Bobby, Tommy, myself, Bill McCubbin (bass) and - interestingly enough - Telma Hopkins (of Tony Orlando and Dawn fame), who was living with Tommy at the time. Bobby said 'Guys, I think this is it. It feels like I'm gonna die this year.' Although we all poo-poohed him, it was painfully obvious from his weakened condition and gray color that he was seriously ill.”

In case you don't know your Darin history, no, he didn't step offstage 42 years ago and drop dead. Thankfully, we still had him for a few months yet. But on December 11, he entered Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles to repair two artificial heart valves he'd received in an earlier operation, and he died following surgery on December 20, only 37 years old. Given how much he accomplished in his short time on earth, it's pretty depressing to think how much more he could've accomplished if only he'd had the chance.