Early Life
Rabbitt was born to Irish immigrants in Brooklyn, New York in 1941 and was raised in the nearby community of East Orange, New Jersey. His father was an oil-refinery refrigeration worker and a skilled fiddle and accordion player who often entertained local New York City dance halls. By age twelve Rabbitt was a proficient guitar player, having been taught by his scoutmaster, Bob Scwickrath. During his childhood Rabbitt became a self-proclaimed "walking encyclopedia of country music". After his parents divorced he dropped out of school at age sixteen. His mother, Mae, explained this action by saying that Rabbitt "was never one for school his head was too full of music." He later obtained a high school diploma after taking courses at night school.
Read more about this topic: Eddie Rabbitt
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“I looked at my daughters, and my boyhood picture, and appreciated the gift of parenthood, at that moment, more than any other gift I have ever been given. For what person, except one’s own children, would want so deeply and sincerely to have shared your childhood? Who else would think your insignificant and petty life so precious in the living, so rich in its expressiveness, that it would be worth partaking of what you were, to understand what you are?”
—Gerald Early (20th century)
“The effect of a good government is to make life more valuable; of a bad one, to make it less valuable.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)