Born 68 Years Ago Today in California, the Teen Idol With a No. 1 Hit Whose Half Brother Starred in a Beloved 70s Sitcom

On this day (September 27) in 1958, Shaun Cassidy was born in Los Angeles, California. As the son of Tony Award-winning actor Jack Cassidy and Academy Award-winning actress Shirley Jones, Cassidy had quite the legacy to live up to — especially after older half-brother David went on to star alongside Jones in the beloved 1970s musical sitcom The Partridge Family.

Following in his family’s illustrious footsteps, Cassidy’s entertainment career began in music, scoring a number-one U.S. pop hit with his 1977 cover of the Crystals’ “Da Doo Ron Ron”. After three multi-platinum albums, multiple top 10 hits, and a Grammy nod for Best New Artist, he pivoted to acting, eventually finding his niche behind the scenes as a writer and producer for TV shows like American Gothic, Roar, and Invasion.

Today, we’re taking a trip through the life and career of Shaun Cassidy in honor of his 68th birthday.

Shaun Cassidy’s Teen Idol Days

Forming his first band at just 11 years old, Shaun Cassidy signed a recording contract with the Curb Records division of Warner Brothers Records before he’d even graduated from high school.

He shot to fame in Europe with his 1976 debut single “Morning Girl”, enjoying equal success in Australia with the Eric Carmen-penned follow-up “That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll”.

Having established a sizable following overseas, Cassidy’s first American release, “Da Do Ron Ron,” rocketed to number one on the U.S. pop chart and established the 18-year-old as a global heartthrob practically overnight.

Selling more than a million copies, Cassidy’s 1976 self-titled debut reached number three on the pop albums chart and earned the singer a Grammy nod for Best New Artist.

Aging Out of Musical Success

That certainly wasn’t the end of Shaun Cassidy’s musical career. His sophomore album, Born Late (1977), netted the top 10 single “Hey Deanie”.

However, its successor, Under Wraps (1978), barely cracked the top 40. Its follow-up, Room Service (1979), didn’t do much better.

For his fifth and final album, 1980’s Wasp, Cassidy hired producer Todd Rungren to help reinvent his image. Wasp consisted mostly of cover songs, including David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” and The Who’s “So Sad About Us”.

However, the teenybopper fans who had made Cassidy famous showed little interest in his reinvention as an edgy new-wave singer. Wasp became his second straight album to fall short of the Billboard 200, effectively ending his pop career.

Why He Left Music Behind

For most of the 1980s and early 1990s, Shaun Cassidy shifted his focus to acting — having become utterly disillusioned with the musical spotlight.

“I played the Houston Astrodome for 55,000 people. And I said, ‘Goodnight. See you soon.’ And I didn’t do another concert until 2020, 40 years later,” he told People in August 2026.

Cassidy became a fixture on Broadway, starring alongside older half brother David in the musical Blood Brothers.

During this time, he wrote what would become the pilot for American Gothic. Although the horror series lasted just one season on CBS, it gained a cult following and opened the door to a long career behind the scenes for Cassidy.

His TV credits include Roar, starring Heath Ledger, Cover Me, Invasion, Ruby and the Rockits, and New Amsterdam.

[RELATED: Eric Carmen, Raspberries Frontman, “All By Myself” Singer and Songwriter, Dies at 74]

“I got very fortunate, not only that I was able to do something that I aspired to do and that I love still to this day doing, but that I was able to carve out my own identity in a very public family,” Cassidy said.

Featured image by Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The Recording Academy