Born Caroline Vincinette LoTempio, April Stevens began recording as a solo artist in the 1950s. ” In the 1960s, Stevens teamed up with her younger brother, Antonino LoTempio, who took on the stage name Nino Tempo. As April Stevens and Nino Tempo, they scored a No. 1 hit in 1963 with their cover of the pop standard, “Deep Purple.”

Check out this brief interview with Dick Clark on American Bandstand and a surprise note I think about “Deep Purple.”

Stevens did this breathy recording in 1959 that was banned on some radio stations in the United Kingdom.

In her autobiography, Teach Me Tiger, Stevens revealed that she was actually born in 1929, despite having taken years off her age, and Nino willing to go along with it. This decision was allegedly due to their competition with younger acts that were dominating the charts in the 1960s.

Stevens died this week just two weeks before her 94th birthday.