Everyone knows Sylvester Stallone, but his brother Frank Jr. also made waves in the movie and music industry. In fact, he had a cameo appearance in the action star’s Rocky film that ended up becoming one of the most iconic movies of all time.
In 1976, Stallone was inspired to write his famous sports drama after witnessing a match between boxer Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner. He immediately finished the script and worked tirelessly to bring the story to the big screen.
Sylvester Stallone’s Brother Frank Jr. Made His Big Screen Debut In Rocky
Sylvester Stallone asked his brother Frank Jr. to provide music for the Rocky film, specifically making a cameo as a teenager singing on the street. Because of his love for music, he could not refuse. Frank Jr. told Fox News:
“I was in a group called Valentine, and we were pretty successful – if you want to consider successful making a hundred bucks a week. We had pretty successful gigs in Jersey. My brother then calls me and goes, ‘I’m making a boxing movie, wanna write music for it?’ I said, ‘Well, that’s not really my expertise, writing music for a boxing movie.’ But I said alright.”
He agreed and wrote music for the movie, and since then, they have collaborated on nine projects, including the sequels for Rocky. He continued:
“Then he goes, ‘I want you to recreate something that you used to do when you were a kid singing on the street corner doing doo-wop.’”
No one expected Rocky would end up becoming such a massive hit, but Frank Jr. knew it held something special that he could not explain. The singer further added:
“I remember when we first saw it before it came out. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I just felt there was something special about this. But we all thought this film would make the money back at drive-ins and such. And as for me, I just sang in it and didn’t give it another thought after that. It turned out to be the last time the Stallone name was unknown. From there, it just blew up.”
The success and fame of the franchise came with frustration as the musician kept being asked all the time what it was like to be the brother of a famous action star.
Frank Jr. Stallone Regrets Leaving Music Career To Pursue Acting
Frank Jr. Stallone insisted he worked his way up to achieve every feat he has accomplished, and he did not rely on the reputation of his name being Stallone. In the same interview with Fox News, the musician confessed:
“I’ve done about 77 movies. A lot of them were lousy movies – I’m not gonna sit here and sugar-coat it. But they were all learning experiences for me. And these roles weren’t given to me because of my name. Like ‘Barfly’ for example, I auditioned for that. And to this day people talked about it.”
However, because some of his films were not as successful as he hoped them to be, Frank Jr. admitted he regrets leaving his passion for music to pursue acting. He further shared:
“The one thing I regret about my film career is that I somewhat abandoned my music career, which still really bugs me because I shouldn’t have done that.”
He had a hard time finding an agent, so he turned to making movies. Still, he did not give up his career in music, and when he found the opportunity in his brother’s Rocky film, he finally got the chance to sing his heart out.
