Franklin Joseph "Frankie" Lymon (September 30, 1942-February 27, 1968) was an African-American rock and roll/Rhythm and blues singer, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of a New York City-based early rock and roll group called [The Teenagers.] The group included 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, Herman Santiago and Joe Negroni.

But the thrust of their sound centered around the extraordinary talents of their lead singer, 13-year-old Lymon, whow was credited with writing their first big hit, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love." However, in the early '90s, a federal judge ruled, after a lengthy trial, that Lymon hadn't written "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" - another member of the Teenagers had).