Gayle Shepherd of the Singing Shepherd Sisters Dies at 81

The Shepherd Sisters in an undated photo; from left, Judith, MaryLou, Gayle and Martha. MaryLou is the last survivor.

Credit

Gayle Shepherd, a member of the vocal quartet the Shepherd Sisters, best known for the 1957 hit “Alone (Why Must I Be Alone),” died at a care facility in Allentown, Pa. She was 81.

Her daughter, Dina Miller, said the cause was dementia.

Ms. Shepherd, the second youngest of eight siblings, grew up singing in church in Middletown, Ohio. She and two sisters, Martha and MaryLou, performed locally as the Shepherd Sisters beginning when they were teenagers, with Gayle often singing lead.

Their group had their breakthrough in the mid-1950s performing on the variety show “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts,” which pitted young musicians against one another.

They had a harmonious style typical of the popular girl groups of the 1950s and ’60s. Their first regional hit, in 1956, was a version of the 1937 song “Gone With the Wind” (not related to the film or novel of the same title). The song drew the attention of Dick Clark, and the sisters went on to appear repeatedly on his TV show “American Bandstand.”

They added a fourth sister, Judith, to the group in 1957 and released their biggest hit, the yearning but upbeat “Alone,” written by Morty and Selma Craft, which reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year. The song was later recorded by the Four Seasons and Petula Clark.