Johnny Maestro | Doo-wop singer, 70

Singer Johnny Maestro, 70, who performed the 1958 doo-wop hit "16 Candles" with the Crests and enjoyed a decades-long career with the Brooklyn Bridge, died of cancer Wednesday in Florida, said Les Cauchi, a friend and original Brooklyn Bridge member.

Mr. Maestro, born John Mastrangelo, began his career in the 1950s with the Crests - one of the first interracial singing groups - and then joined a local New York group, the Del-Satins. It merged with a Long Island band, the Rhythm Method, to form Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge in 1968.

Hits by the rock-and-roll and doo-wop group included "The Worst That Could Happen," which Cauchi said earned "gold record" status with a million sales.

Other hits included "Blessed Is the Rain," "Welcome Me Love," and "You'll Never Walk Alone."

Cauchi recalled that another song, "Your Husband, My Wife," drew controversy when it was released in 1969 because it dealt with infidelity - a touchy topic then.

The band got its name after a manager declared it would be "harder to sell than the Brooklyn Bridge," Mr. Maestro once said. - AP