They had first performed together in 1962 in the Los Angeles area as part of a five-member group called the Paramours,[1] and adopted the name The Righteous Brothers when they became a duo.

The term "blue-eyed soul" is thought to have been coined by Philadelphia radio DJ Georgie Woods in 1964 when describing the duo's music.

[2][3][4] Hatfield and Medley had contrasting vocal ranges, which helped them create a distinctive sound as a duet.

Medley sang the low parts with his bass-baritone voice, with Hatfield taking the higher-register vocals with his tenor.

[5] Following a year and a half of Top 40 non-entries on Billboard's Hot 100, the duo hit big with the late-1964 release of what would become their signature record, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" – a transatlantic number one produced by Phil Spector, often considered one of his finest works and a landmark recording in popular music.

[10] Barry Rillera, a member of Medley's band who was also in Hatfield's group, suggested they go see each other's show and perform together.

[citation needed] They started performing at a club called John's Black Derby in Santa Ana,[10] and were signed to a small record label Moonglow in 1962.

[23][24] Prior to this, all the songs Spector produced for Philles Records featured African-American singers; the Righteous Brothers would be his first white vocal group for the label.

[25] Spector commissioned Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil to write a song for them, which turned out to be "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'".

Indeed, according to BMI, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" became the most-played song on American radio and television of the 20th century, with more than eight million airplays by the end of 1999.

[28] The Righteous Brothers had several other hit singles with Philles Records in 1965, including "Just Once in My Life" and "Unchained Melody" (originally the B-side of "Hung on You"),[29] both reaching the Billboard Top 10.

[32] After the success of "Unchained Melody", Spector started releasing older songs with the Righteous Brothers, including "Ebb Tide", which reached No.

[33] Although Spector focused his attention in producing singles, a number of albums by the Righteous Brothers released with Philles Records sold well.

[38] Medley then produced the completed song, and was able to fully simulate the Spector style of production and achieve a similar sound to that of "Lovin' Feelin'".

The duo split up in February 1968, a breakup that would last for more than six years, when Medley left to pursue a solo career.

[41][42] In a 2013 interview, Jimmy Walker said he had wanted to continue, but Hatfield decided to take a break and broke up the act.

After 1975, however, the Righteous Brothers would not appear in music charts except for re-releases of older songs and compilation albums, some of which were re-recordings of earlier works.

They reunited for an anniversary special on American Bandstand in 1981 to perform an updated version of "Rock and Roll Heaven".

[15][46] They resumed touring intermittently, and they recorded a 21st Anniversary Celebration concert in 1983 at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, which was later released on video and was also aired on television.

In late 1987, his duet with Jennifer Warnes, "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", which appeared on the soundtrack for Dirty Dancing, topped the Billboard Hot 100.

It triggered an avalanche of requests to Top 40 radio stations by fans who had seen the movie to play the 1965 Righteous Brothers' recording.

[50] A greatest hits CD collection of the original recordings called The Very Best of The Righteous Brothers...Unchained Melody[51] was released later by Verve/Polydor.

The late Hatfield was replaced with singer Bucky Heard at Las Vegas's Harrah's Showroom for more than 40 shows from March 23, 2016, to November 8.

[58] The repertoire included some of the Righteous Brothers' best-known songs, such as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", "Soul & Inspiration", "Unchained Melody", but also the later "Rock and Roll Heaven", as well as Bill Medley's "The Time of My Life".

[60] A new CD was released the same year, featuring several of the Righteous Brothers' hit singles sung by Medley and Heard.