Former lead singer of LFO, Rich Cronin, 35 died of Leukemia on September 8, 2010. On the same day as his funeral, held on September 13, the final music recording of Rich Cronin was revealed. The song titled, “It Only Gets Better”, is a poetic lyric about his life in stardom and the pain he suffered until his death.
Rich Cronin grew up in Boston Massachusetts and was one of the founding band members of LFO the acronym for “Lyte Funky Ones”. In 1995, Brad Fischetti and Brian Gillis signed a recording deal with Lou Pearlman. Perlman was once the promoter for ‘NSync, The Backstreet Boys, and LFO, the hottest “boy bands” in the country. Pearlman is now imprisoned and serving 25 years for ponzi scheme fraud, deceiving investors of more than $300 million.
At the time LFO formed, the industry was saturated with “boy band” phenomena. Many of the artists recruited songwriters and producers rather than creating their own sound. Cronin desired LFO to bring a unique sound to the industry. While musing over a past summer romance, Cronin wrote “Summer Girls” in his parent’s basement. The song was initially recorded in only 45 minutes and featured Cronin rapping, something other boy bands were not doing. Although the band eventually fizzled out, “Summer Girls” has maintained a vibrant shelf life over the years. Billboard Magazine would later name the song one of the top 30 “summer” songs ever.
In 2002, the members of LFO went their separate ways. Recently the band tried to pull together a reunion tour but to no avail. Cronin appeared on a failed inspirational reality Mission: Man Band that aired on VH1.
Cronin’s manager, Michelle Holland updated Cronin’s FaceBook page saying “On behalf of the Cronin family and all at the Hope Foundation and [his record label] Orange Freeze, thank you so much for your kind words and thoughts. Continue to post them as a tribute to a great man, a better artist and the best friend I could ever have.”