Bobby Sherman, Former Teen Idol and Here Come the Brides Star, Dies at 81 After Cancer Battle

Former teen idol Bobby Sherman has died. He was 81.

On Tuesday, June 24, Sherman’s wife Brigitte Poublon Sherman confirmed the news in a shared statement with John Stamos on Instagram.

“It is with the heaviest heart that I share the passing of my beloved husband, Bobby Sherman,” she began. “Bobby left this world holding my hand—just as he held up our life with love, courage, and unwavering grace through all 29 beautiful years of marriage.

Poublon continued: “I was his Cinderella, and he was my prince charming. Even in his final days, he stayed strong for me. That’s who Bobby was—brave, gentle, and full of light.”

She then explained that she had read him “fan letters” as he rested and continued to “crack well-timed jokes.”

“Bobby had a wonderful, wicked sense of humor,” she wrote. “It never left him. He could light up a room with a look, a quip, or one of his classic, one-liners.”

Poublon also praised Sherman for his work outside of the entertainment industry.

“But to those who truly knew him, Bobby was something much more. He was a man of service. He traded sold-out concerts and magazine covers for the back of an ambulance, becoming an EMT and a trainer with the LAPD. He saved lives. He showed us what real heroism looks like—quiet, selfless, and deeply human,” she wrote.

Poublon noted that Sherman is survived by his two sons, Tyler and Christopher, and “six beautiful grandchildren.”

“He lived with integrity, gave without hesitation, and loved with his whole heart,” she wrote. “And though our family feels his loss profoundly, we also feel the warmth of his legacy—his voice, his laughter, his music, his mission.”

She concluded: “Thank you to every fan who ever sang along, who ever wrote a letter, who ever sent love his way. He felt it. Rest gently, my love.”

In March 2025, Poublon announced that Sherman had been diagnosed with stage four cancer. She wrote on Facebook at the time, “During this challenging time, we kindly ask for your understanding and respect for our privacy. Thank you so much for still remembering him. We really appreciate it.”

Sherman was born in Santa Monica, Calif., in 1943. He was raised in Van Nuys. His father was a milkman who eventually opened his own delivery service, according to the Los Angeles Times.

He broke into music when actor Sal Mineo (best known for Rebel Without a Cause) wrote him two songs and asked him to sing at a Hollywood party. He signed with an agent and began appearing regularly on ABC’s mid-’60s variety series Shindig! while releasing music.

Throughout his career, he landed several top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 with 1969’s “Little Woman” and 1970’s “La La La (If I Had You),” “Julie, Do Ya Love Me” and “Easy Come, Easy Go.”

In 1968, he joined the cast of Here Come the Brides and became one of ABC’s most popular stars, thanks to his role as Jeremy, the shy brother of Robert Brown’s Jason. Then, in 1969, he released “Little Woman,” his first hit, which reached No. 3 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 and was his first gold record. His followup, “La La La (If I Had You),” reached No. 9, as did 1970’s “Easy Come, Easy Go.”  That same year, “Julie, Do Ya Love Me” reached No. 5. Other successful releases included “Cried Like a Baby” and “The Drum.”

The Los Angeles Times wrote in 1989 that Sherman was nicknamed “Bubblegum Bobby” and was a “product of a shrewd marketing blitz that quickly determined exactly what the teeny-boppers wanted, and almost instantaneously gave it back to them on stage, on television and in teen magazines.”

“The whole thing was manufactured,” he told the outlet. “If it started to shift, we started to shift. It was supply and demand. The market realized there was money in very young kids. A lot of money.” Still, he said, he valued his interactions with fans and cherished their letters.

Sherman also made many guest appearances on TV series, including The Partridge Family, The Mod Squad, Emergency!, The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote and Frasier. He also appeared in two films: 1975’s He Is My Brother and 1983’s Get Crazy. 

After starring on a short-lived spinoff of The Partridge Family, Sherman decided to take a break from show business. “I’d film five days a week, get on a plane on a Friday night and go someplace for matinee and evening shows Saturday and Sunday, then get on a plane and go back to the studio to start filming again,” he told The Washington Post in 1998. “It was so hectic for three years that I didn’t know what home was.”

Sherman was married to Patti Carnel from 1971 to 1977. They shared sons Christopher and Tyler. Sherman told the Post that taking care of his kids inspired his next career move. “My ex-wife was very squeamish when it came to blood, especially our kids’ blood, so it was kind of up to me,” he said. “I took a basic first aid/CPR class, just in case, and found I had a knack for it. Eventually, if I’d be driving down the street and there was an accident and there was no medical help on hand, I’d get out, and since I usually had some stuff with me, I’d help.”

As a paramedic, he told the Los Angeles Times in 1998, his former fame sometimes helped him. “I’ve had a couple of instances where my patients would look up and say, ‘Hey, you’re Bobby Sherman,’ ” he said. “It turns into a kind of placebo effect,” he said, explaining that it helped them relax.

He ended up volunteering with the Los Angeles Police Department. In the ‘90s, he became a Reserve Police Officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, working as a medical training officer; he told the Los Angeles Times in 1993 that he was working on equipping all police cars with first-aid kits. In 1999, he became a reserve deputy sheriff with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, carrying on medical training for new hires. 

In 1998, Sherman reinvigorated his music career and appeared on a “Teen Idol Tour” with Peter Noone from Herman’s Hermits and Davy Jones from the Monkees. “It’s like riding a bike,” he told The Washington Post at the time. “You don’t need training wheels again. You kind of remember how to do it.”

He performed his last solo concert in 2001. In 1996, he released a memoir, Still Remembering You.

In 2010, he married Poublon.