The Very Reverend Sir Monti Rock III (born Joseph Montanez, Jr. May 29, 1942 in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

) is an American musician and performer.

Life and career

Born on 29 May 1942 to a Puerto Rican family in the Bronx, Rock parlayed his role as celebrity hairdresser into a role center stage. After several appearances and performances on ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, May 10, 1965 to July 4, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 ...

'' beginning in 1966, Rock's wild antics, which included throwing bananas into the audience, and outrageous personality brought him to the national stage when he began appearing regularly as a guest on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

''. Rock is generally considered to be one of the first disco artists to cross into the mainstream. In February 1975, Rock released '' Disco-Tex & His Sex-O-Lettes Review'', an LP of disco songs and collaboration with producer Bob Crewe and featuring musician

Jerry Corbetta Jerry A. Corbetta (September 23, 1947 – September 16, 2016) was an American singer-songwriter, keyboardist and organist, record producer— best known as a frontman for the Colorado rock band Sugarloaf, best known for their classic rock hit � ...

Sugarloaf A sugarloaf was the usual form in which refined sugar was produced and sold until the late 19th century, when granulated and cube sugars were introduced. A tall cone with a rounded top was the end product of a process in which dark molasses, a r ...

. Two of the album's tracks, " Get Dancin'" and "

I Wanna Dance Wit' Choo (Doo Dat Dance) "I Wanna Dance Wit' Choo (Doo Dat Dance)" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Denny Randell and performed by Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes. The song was featured on their 1975 album, ''Disco Tex & His Sex-O-Lettes Review''. The song was produce ...

", became hit singles in the United States and instant staples at burgeoning New York dance clubs including Studio 54. The two songs were also Top 10 hits in the United Kingdom. By the end of the 1970s, disco music was fully mainstream, and Rock appeared in the movie '' Saturday Night Fever'' as the DJ. After reinventing himself several times as "Monti Rock II", "Monti Rock IV", "Monti Rock V", and "Sir Monti Rock", Rock settled on just "Monti Rock". He currently resides and performs in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. Monti is now an ordained minister, according to his Facebook page.

References

American performance artists 1942 births Living people {{US-entertainer-stub