Who was Lou Christie married to? All about the family as Pittsburgh hitmaker dies at 82

Lou Christie, who was married to former Miss United Kingdom, Francesca Winfield, passed away on Wednesday at the age of eighty-two. The news of his death was confirmed by his wife to The Hollywood Reporter, which stated that he died in his home in Pittsburgh, surrounded by his family.

Lou Christie, who rose to fame in the 1960s with chart topping hits like, "Lighting Strikes," "Rhapsody in the Rain," "I'm Gonna Make You Mine," "The Gypsy Cried," and "Two Faces Have I," and several others, was suffering from a brief illness before his, although the exact details of of it have not been revealed.

More about Lou Christie's family, as the celebrated singer passes away

Lou Christie, born Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco on 19 February 1943 in Glenwillard, Pennsylvania, started his career as a teenager with his hit song, "The Gypsy Cried," which reached the No. 24 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.

In a 2018 interview with Village News, Lou Christie spoke about how, despite attaining early success in life, he was unsure about what he was doing. He said:

"It took me years to find out how to just be myself and relax and enjoy what I was doing –I used to worry and was very self-conscious. I was a successful songwriter, and singer; I knew and loved music but that wasn’t enough for some people."

According to the Airplay Channel, Lou Christie moved to the UK in the 70s, and this is where he met Georgina Francesa Winfield, who participated in the Miss United Kingdom contest in 1971. The couple started dating and soon tied the knot in November 1971, with legendary tour promoter Barrie Marshall acting as Christie's best man.

The couple welcomed two children, son Christopher and daughter Bianca, and lived in the UK for some time before relocating back to the US. Christopher tragically passed away in May 2014 at the age of forty-six from a vehicular accident in Houston when his motorcycle collided with a car, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

In an interview with Columbia Journal, Lou Christie talked about how his son's death affected him. He said:

"You don’t get over something like that. But you learn to live with it. Like everything else life hands you, you have to take it as it comes.”

In his interview with Airplay Channel, Lou Christie further shared how moving to the UK allowed him to develop his performance style into an act that resonated with his audience. He said:

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"Those were tough audiences and they knew rock and roll. They didn’t care if I was cute. They wanted to hear good music and be entertained.”

The news of Lou Christie's death has led fans to take to social media to pay their respects. He is survived by his daughter and wife, whom he had been married to for fifty-four years.

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