Joan Weber shattered chart records before vanishing after a single hit (Image: Getty)
Music history is filled with one-hit wonders, but few experienced a rise as dramatic—or a decline as complete—as Joan Weber. The aspiring singer had married bandleader George Verfaillie at 18 and was 21, pregnant with her first child, when she was discovered in 1954. Her demo had reportedly made little impression, with Columbia Records producer Mitch Miller dismissing her as having “a five-and-dime voice.” Yet Weber possessed an accessible, relatable quality. That helped her land an unexpected opportunity when the long-running television series Studio One needed a song for an episode about corruption in the recording business. Miller chose Weber to perform “Let Me Go, Devil,” a song previously recorded by Georgie Shaw without making an impact on the hit parade.
Miller later said he wanted “a voice nobody knew” so the performance would not overshadow the episode. Instead, the song’s repeated exposure—six plays during the program’s November 15, 1954, broadcast—turned it into a record-breaking sensation.
The single sold 500,000 copies within two weeks. It also made history as the first song to enter the fledgling pop charts after being featured on just one television episode.
By January 1955, “Let Me Go, Devil” had reached No. 1 on every major US chart, climbed to No. 16 in the UK and sold more than a million copies. Several artists recorded their own versions, but none came close to matching Weber’s success.
With career momentum most performers could only dream of, Weber appeared destined for a long and lucrative future in showbusiness. That promise, however, quickly unraveled.
After giving birth to her daughter, Terry Lynn, the overnight star signed a contract with New York’s legendary Copacabana nightclub. She was reportedly earning $10,000 a week—equivalent to approximately $125,723, or around £103,131, today.
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Joan Weber could not reproduce her early success and eventually faded from public view (Image: Getty)
The fame, though, proved short-lived. Weber took singing and elocution lessons in an effort to prepare for a major career, but her subsequent singles failed to chart. Just 18 months later, her record deal was over.
She returned to the nightclub circuit in 1957, appearing in venues across Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Ottawa and Washington.
Even that comeback could not be sustained. Weber largely disappeared from public life, and by 1969, royalty checks sent to her last known address were being returned as undeliverable.
In 1975, American Top 40 named her the No. 1 entry on its list of “Top 40 Disappearing Acts” during a special broadcast.
At one stage, Weber is known to have worked as a library clerk in New Jersey. Her final years, however, were spent at Ancora Psychiatric Hospital in Winslow Township, New Jersey.
Weber died there of heart failure on May 13, 1981, aged 45. She was buried at Eglington Cemetery in Clarksboro, New Jersey.