Sinatra of the senior set: ‘Pops’ is Las Vegas’ oldest headliner

The 95-year-old pianist is tickling the ivories and warming our hearts.

“This is one that was sung by Judy Garland!” Don “Pops” Friend calls out while seated at his Weber baby grand. “It is from the movie, ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and it is one of the most famous songs ever.”

“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is that song. Pops’ audience of a couple dozen residents at Atria Seville senior living community sing or hum along. Pops carries the tune in a sing-shout voice, to be heard as he has no mic. He points skyward at the “Bluebirds fly!” lyric, fully inhabiting the number.

With a jaunty flair and still-sharp musical chops, Pops flies through such standards as “Fly Me to the Moon,” “New York, New York,” and “Straighten Up and Fly Right” in his hourlong set.

Pops is a 30-year headliner at senior living centers across the valley, certainly the oldest sustained residency performer in all of Las Vegas.

We got to know of Pops’ showmanship on social media during the COVID shutdown. He was featured on Instagram posts recorded by his son, the rock-music writer Lonn Friend. He was known as “Pop The Pandemic Piano Man,” in a series of clips from December 2020 through June 2021 (the music lives on @popthepandemicpianoman).

Pops has been playing since he began lessons at 4½ years old (or 1933) in his hometown of Chicago. He remembers he was mostly self-taught and loved public performances.

“I found that other than lessons, I could play by ear,” Pops says. “So it has always come naturally to me.”

Pops would go on to attend Chicago Musical College, playing private parties. He earned a music degree with a major in piano from the acclaimed private Roosevelt University in Chicago. In the early ‘50s, he moved to California, where his mother lived, and met up with Mike Riley, who had a hit with the novelty song “The Music Goes Round and Round.” One of their road gigs was at the Golden Nugget, in those days just a casino with no hotel rooms.

Pops moved to Las Vegas in 1959 for ongoing gigs at El Cortez and the Fremont Hotel with the Tepper and Friend pairing, alongside comic Herbie Tepper. That act toggled with the Newton Brothers — yep, Wayne Newton and his brother, Jerry — at the Fremont’s Carnival Lounge.

As if starring in his own Hollywood musical, Pops formed his next band, The Five Chords, which played the Mint’s Merri-Mint Lounge. Pops was emcee and pianist for the four vocalists, who were inspired by the Lettermen.

Pops’ original run as a showman halted in the late 1960s, when he met one Sherry Jackson from Richmond, Virginia. They formed their own duo and moved to Sherry’s hometown of Richmond, Virginia — and next month, the two celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary.

While living in Richmond, Pops worked as a salesman for Lawson Products hardware company (where the joke was, “This job is nuts!”). Pops also gigged at local clubs at night up until retirement in 1994, when he and Sherry moved back to Las Vegas. The two still reside near Summerlin; Pops doesn’t live in an assisted living facility himself. He and Sherry live in The Lakes.

“When I came back to Las Vegas, they were just starting to build all of these senior citizens homes, and that’s how I got hired,” says Pops, who first played piano interlude for the Happy Hoofers dance troupe of former showgirls. “I would play the intermission while they changed costumes. That’s how all this started.”

Since his re-entry into Las Vegas, Pops has been the Sinatra of the senior set. The dedicated showman has graced the open spaces at such assisted-living facilities as Grand Court on West Flamingo Road, Mira Loma Assisted Living Center on Wigwam, Silver Ridge Healthcare Center on Torrey Pines, Las Ventanas in Summerlin, The Cottages in Henderson and — his current exclusive engagement — Atria Seville.

Still mentally sharp, Pops keeps performing his career finale. But similar to the Eagles on their farewell tours, he keeps returning for encores. His hearing isn’t what it used to be, but he can certainly hear his own still-resonant voice.

Pops’ July 3 show at Atria Seville, on his 95th birthday, was to be his last. He was nudged back to the community on Aug. 7, Purple Heart Day across the U.S. That, too, was to be his farewell show.

But Pop said Sunday he wants to keep the door open to another show.

““It’s always a possibility. I’m thinking about it. I still feel really good,” the musician of 90 years said. “I have trouble walking (from a recent gall bladder operation), but when I sit at the piano, I’m fine. My hands are OK, my voice is still good. And I know the old songs. I can play ‘em, I can sing ‘em, and that’s what they want to hear.”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.