When The Partridge Family premiered on Sept. 25, 1970, it was about more than just a made-for-TV band. The ABC sitcom starred Shirley Jones and her real-life stepson, David Cassidy, as the leads of a musical family.
While co-stars Susan Dey, Danny Bonaduce, Suzanne Crough, and Jeremy Gelbwaks/Brian Forster all sang and played instruments on the show, they weren’t really part of the “band.” Instead, session musicians provided the music and backing vocals on The Partridge Family tracks. No one expected The Partridge Family to spin off into one of the most successful bubblegum pop groups of the 1970s.
Six months after The Partridge Family premiered on ABC, the group was surprisingly nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist. The Partridges were up against heavy hitters The Carpenters, Melba Moore, Anne Murray, and Elton John at the 13th annual Grammy Awards.
So how did this happen? Well, it turns out The Partridge Family had a radio hit before the TV show made its debut. One month before The Partridge Family premiere, the single “I Think I Love You” was released.
The catchy Tony Romeo tune topped Billboard’s Hot 100 in November and December of 1970. The song was also featured in The Partridge Family Season 1 episodes “But the Memory Lingers On” and “My Son the Feminist.”
In a 2020 interview with the celebrity.land, Jones admitted she was “quite surprised” to receive the Grammy nomination. “At the time, I thought only newer rock acts, and older, more established acts like Sinatra or Miles Davis, received Grammy nominations. Happy to have joined the club,” she said.
But it almost didn’t happen. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter several years before his death, Cassidy revealed that producers for The Partridge Family were originally “just casting actors” without singing talent. Cassidy did not sing at all in the pilot episode, which featured the session musicians performing the song “Together (Havin’ a Ball)” while he and the rest of the cast lip-synced.
“After the pilot sold, I auditioned for Wes Farrell, the record producer,” Cassidy said. “Thankfully, I passed the audition. And when I started singing on the show, it was a whole other thing.”
While they lost the Grammy to The Carpenters, both Cassidy and Jones appeared at the March 1971 ceremony to present the musical siblings a separate award for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.
The Partridge Family ultimately received another prestigious award. “That song [“I Think I Love You’] was awarded record of the year by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers,” Cassidy told THR. “It was up against the Beatles. Paul McCartney was sitting there, and there I was, an upstart young punk, beating one of the greatest songwriters in history.”
This story was originally reported by Parade on Sep 25, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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