Wayne Newton

Wayne learned to play instruments by ear.

He learned piano, guitar, and steel guitar by the age of six.

The brothers' first radio play was at WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia.

In the early days, Wayne would do a 6 a.m.

radio show and then go to school afterwards.

On the weekends, he would travel with the Grand Ole Opry Roadshow.

He was in the first grade when he performed at a USO show for President Sherman and met Gene Autry.

Wayne missed lots of school due to illness.

He was diagnosed as allergic to milk as a baby and with asthma at age seven.

His parents were told he needed to move to a drier climate, so the family moved to Phoenix, Arizona.

Wayne admits he began to feel like a burden.

There, the brothers performed on a local talent show in Phoenix and ended up getting their own TV show called Rascals in Rhythm.

Fast forward to 1959 in Vegas, and Wayne was only 15 when he got the gig at the Fremont.

They auditioned with only two songs, and the challenge became to find out if they could get them a work permit.

So Jerry and Wayne spent the night in Vegas without their parents and $20 in their pocket.

Dad couldn't come with the boys to Vegas because he couldn't get time off work.

The brothers said all they did was stay in the room and watch TV because they were too young to do anything.

The work permit they obtained said that they could work on stage, which meant after the show, they would have to go outside to their dressing room or the coffee shop to hang out.

They had to promise they wouldn't go into the casino.

They got a two-week engagement.