Franklin Joseph Lymon (September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968 ), known professionally as Frankie Lymon, was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll group The Teenagers.The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid-teens.The original lineup of the Teenagers, an integrated group, included three African-American members, Frankie Lymon, Jimmy Merchant, and Sherman Garnes; and two Puerto Rican members, Joe Negroni and Herman Santiago.The Teenagers' first single, 1956's "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," was also its biggest hit.After Lymon went solo in mid-1957, both his career and that of the Teenagers fell into decline.He was found dead at the age of 25 on the floor of his grandmother's bathroom from a heroin overdose.His life was dramatized in the 1998 film Why Do Fools Fall In Love.