Ambrose was initially a member of Bill Haley & His Comets between 1954 and 1955, playing on some of their biggest releases, including "Rock Around the Clock" and "Shake, Rattle and Roll". From 1955 to 1959, he was a member of The Jodimars with former Comets members Dick Richards and Marshall Lytle.[3] After their breakup, Ambrose worked at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, where he would remain for 27 years.[4]
In 1987, Ambrose re-grouped with former bandmates Johnny Grande, Franny Beecher, Dick Richards and Marshall Lytle to form Bill Haley's Original Comets.[5]
In 2012, Ambrose along with most of the other 1950–1960 members of the Comets were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[6]
Ambrose died on August 9, 2021, at the age of 87.[7] At the time of his death, he was considered to be the last surviving original member of the group.[8]
Sources
Jim Dawson, Rock Around the Clock: The Record That Started the Rock Revolution! (San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2005).
John W. Haley and John von Hoelle, Sound and Glory (Wilmington, Delaware: Dyne-American, 1990).
John Swenson, Bill Haley (London: W.H. Allen, 1982).
