Victorville, Calif. -- Jerry Wallace, who shot to fame in the late 1950s with a pair of hit songs, including Primrose Lane, died May 5 of congestive heart failure at his home in Victorville, Calif. He was 79.
Mr. Wallace began recording in 1951 and scored his first major hit in 1958 with the release of How the Time Flies, followed a year later with the upbeat Primrose Lane written by Wayne Shanklin.
Gene Kennedy, owner of Tennessee-based Door Knob Records, which released several of Mr. Wallace's records in the late 1970s, said Primrose Lane sold more than one million copies. It was his biggest-selling record.
Mr. Wallace retired in the late 1970s and stopped recording. A U.S. Navy veteran who served during the Second World War, he also stopped performing, with the exception of some low-key concerts for veterans.
According to the Hit Parade Hall of Fame website, Mr. Wallace scored more than 45 chart successes on both the pop and country music hit parades.
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