‘A Garage Band in Lucille Ball’s Garage’: The Forgotten Story of ‘60s Teen Icons Dino, Desi and Billy—and Their Famous Parents

The 1960s will forever be known as the decade that changed music forever, and the sheer volume of iconic songs that topped the charts during the era remains unprecedented. Bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones may still be influential and beloved as ever, but the ’60s also had their share of one-hit wonders, hidden gems and forgotten bands. One of these bands, Dino, Desi & Billy, occupied a unique place in the pop cultural pantheon, as it brought together the sons of Dean Martin and Desi Arnaz, two of the most popular mid-century entertainers, and while the group may not be a household name today, they found success in 1965 with their hit singles “I’m a Fool” and “Not the Lovin’ Kind.”

Read on to learn how Dino, Desi & Billy became second-generation celebrities in the ’60s, and see what they did after the decade ended.

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From childhood friends to hitmakers—with help from Frank Sinatra

Dino Martin, the son of Rat Pack entertainer Dean Martin and his second wife, Jeanne Biegger, and Desi Arnaz Jr., the son of I Love Lucy stars Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, were surrounded by music from their earliest days. The talented youngsters befriended each other in elementary school, where they also met Billy Hinsche, who didn’t have famous parents but became the third member of the trio.

Given Dino and Desi’s illustrious parentage, it’s no surprise that their group started with a bang. One fateful night, Frank Sinatra was visiting Dean Martin’s house when he overheard music coming from one of the rooms. At first, Martin thought his friend and creative collaborator might be annoyed by the noise, but Sinatra was impressed and told the three kids he wanted them to try recording their music. A few days later, the crooner had them record “I’m a Fool,” and before they knew it, Dino, Desi & Billy were signed to Sinatra’s label, Reprise Records.

“I’m a Fool” became Dino, Desi & Billy’s first and biggest hit, reaching No. 17 on Billboard’s Hot 100. At the time, Desi was 13, while Dino and Billy were 14, and they quickly gained a dedicated following of teen girls and became teenybopper magazine staples. They further raised their profile through performances on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Sammy Davis Show and (naturally) The Dean Martin Show, and toured as an opening act for classic bands like the Beach Boys, the Mamas & the Papas and the Lovin’ Spoonful.

With their floppy-haired charm and catchy songs, Dino, Desi & Billy briefly captured the ’60s teen-dream zeitgeist (as amusingly described in their 1965 ditty “The Rebel Kind,” which featured lyrics about long hair, tight clothes and black boots). While Lucille Ball worried about her son getting too famous at too young an age, telling a newspaper, “Without discouraging him, I’ve tried to point out that the success of Dino, Desi & Billy may turn out to be a flash in the pan,” she acknowledged, “They’re the heroes of their own age group. They know what sort of music they like, and what appeals to them also appeals to millions of others.”

Dino, Desi & Billy’s second hit single, “Not the Lovin’ Kind,” peaked at No. 25 on the Hot 100. After their initial wave of teen-idol glory, with two popular songs and high-profile TV and concert appearances, the trio’s stardom started to wane. Much of their early music was written by outside songwriters and supplemented by session musicians, and they worked with artists like Lee Hazlewood (known for his work with Nancy Sinatra), Boyce and Hart (known for their work with the Monkees), David Gates (known for being the frontman of Bread) and Jimmy Bowen (known for his work with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin), but they eventually started writing their own music, and their final single, “Lady Love,” released in 1970, after their breakup, was cowritten by Billy and the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson.

Dino, Desi & Billy had no more hits after 1965, though in 1966, they released three more albums in a row. They also appeared in the Dean Martin spy comedy Murderers’ Row (1966), and in 1969, they contributed three songs to the surf movie Follow Me. By the end of that year, the band broke up, and each of the teens went on to pursue their own projects.

Life after Dino, Desi & Billy: Tennis, TV stardom, the Beach Boys and more

Dino, Desi & Billy achieved a lot before they even reached high school graduation age, and they kept busy once the band ended.

Dino Martin started going by the more mature name Dean Paul Martin and became a tennis player. In 1979, he acted opposite Ali MacGraw in the tennis-themed movie Players. He then starred in the short-lived sci-fi series Misfits of Science from 1985 to 1986. Offscreen, he had a high-profile personal life, as he was married to Romeo and Juliet star Olivia Hussey from 1971 to 1978 and Olympic figure skating champion Dorothy Hamill from 1982 to 1984.

In addition to his work as a musician and actor, Martin was a pilot and served in the Air Force as part of the California Air National Guard. He tragically died at 35 in 1987, when the jet he was flying crashed during a snowstorm. In the decade after the death of their former bandmate, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Billy Hinsche teamed up with Dean’s younger brother, Ricci Martin, to form Ricci, Desi & Billy, and the reconfigured group played on the ’60s nostalgia circuit from 1998 to 2010.

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Desi Arnaz Jr. starred with his mom and sister in the sitcom Here’s Lucy from 1968 to 1974. He appeared in movies and TV shows throughout the ’70s and ’80s and starred in the superhero series Automan from 1983 to 1984. Like Martin, he made headlines for his love life, as he dated stars like Patty Duke and Liza Minnelli. He was married to Happy Days actress Linda Purl from 1979 to 1980, and dancer Amy Laura Bargiel from 1987 until she died in 2015.

In 1992, Desi played his famous father in the film The Mambo Kings, and he’s worked to preserve his parents’ legacy, as he previously served as the vice president of the board of the Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Center and executive produced the 2021 biopic Being the Ricardos. Now 73, Desi is the sole surviving member of Dino, Desi & Billy.

Billy Hinsche had the most successful musical career outside of Dino, Desi & Billy. In the late ’60s, he became a session musician for the Beach Boys. He played on many of their albums and toured with them as a vocalist, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist from the ’70s through the ’90s. Hinsche also played on Beach Boy Carl Wilson’s solo albums and provided backing vocals for songs by Elton John, Warren Zevon, Joan Jett and other artists.

Hinsche released his debut solo album in 2003. He died of lung cancer in 2021 at 70, but kept busy until the end, and livestreamed a series of performances throughout the pandemic. Looking back on his time in Dino, Desi & Billy in a 2020 interview, he admitted that when it came to his bandmates’ celebrity parents, “I was as star-struck as the next person,” and he fondly recalled, “I like to say, we were a garage band like so many others . . . the only difference being, we were rehearsing in Lucille Ball’s garage.” Over 60 years later, that remains a pretty impressive credential.