For those of us of a certain age, we remember the teen idol crazes of the ’70s. From Leif Garrett to Bobby Sherman to The Monkees, teen idols were hot property, filling the glossy pages of Teen Beat and Tiger Beat with the bright colors of everyone’s favorite superstar.
For me, the first teen idol who found his way onto my bedroom wall was Shaun Cassidy.
It all started with the arrival of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, a new Sunday night mystery series based on the beloved books that everyone in my fifth-grade class was breathlessly waiting to watch. (There were only four channels then, so these things were major events.) Almost overnight, Cassidy became a household name, not only because of his good looks and magnetic on-screen charisma, but also because of his remarkable lineage: the son of Tony Award–winning actor Jack Cassidy and Academy Award-winning actress and singer Shirley Jones, and the half-brother of the late David Cassidy, who starred alongside Jones in the popular ’70s series The Partridge Family.
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With teen and tween girls falling head over heels for Cassidy and co-star Parker Stevenson, the PR machine revved up. And because Shaun was a singer in his own right, his pop-star era launched just three months later with the release of “Da Doo Ron Ron,” his cover of the Phil Spector-era hit first recorded by The Crystals.
His rise was swift. His self-titled debut album was released in June 1977, and within weeks “Da Doo Ron Ron” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. By 1978, Cassidy was performing in major venues across the U.S. and Canada. It was a meteoric ascent, with albums following steadily over the next five years.
But teen idol-dom, Cassidy tells me, was never the long-term dream. At heart, he was always a writer; someone who ached to tell stories.
After pivoting into stage work (including a memorable Broadway run in Blood Brothers alongside his brother), Cassidy began shifting behind the scenes. In the 1990s, he created the cult-favorite Southern horror series American Gothic, later followed by projects such as Roar (which introduced Heath Ledger to American audiences) and the sci-fi drama Invasion. Over the next four decades, he quietly built a substantial career as a writer and producer.
When Covid hit, however, Cassidy found himself reconsidering the stage – but not in the way many might assume. He wasn’t interested in nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. Instead, he wondered whether there was a way to tell his own story in a more intimate, memoir-style concert format. After a few sold-out trial performances on his Santa Barbara property, it became clear that audiences were eager to see him again.
He admits he wasn’t certain anyone would care. Vegas residencies had been floated in the past, but he didn’t know what kind of show would feel authentic. That’s when his writing instincts took over. If he returned to performing, it would be on his terms: combining music with storytelling in a way that reflected the full arc of his life and career.
The result is The Road to Us, now touring nationally and arriving at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts in March.
Cassidy describes the show as a memoir told through music. The songs aren’t simply inserted between stories, he explains; they’re carefully chosen to illuminate them. What he wanted to avoid was a string of teen-idol hits stitched together by nostalgia alone. Instead, he aimed for something more layered. Something that honored the past while speaking to where he is now.
He even wrote two new songs specifically for the show. “My First Crush” captures that electric feeling of longing and new love – a sensation he lovingly admits that he still feels for his wife of 21 years, producer Tracey Lynne Turner. His second new composition, “The Last Song,” is a sweeping, operatic ballad that reflects on the stages of life: what the future may hold, what the past represents, and what can be gently released.
Speaking of “My First Crush,” Cassidy has also launched his own line of wines and a wine club of the same name aligned with the charitable organization No Kid Hungry, the national campaign dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America. It’s a cause he speaks about with genuine passion. And the label’s name nods perfectly to his early career.
When asked how this tour compares to his late-’70s concerts, he doesn’t hesitate: there is no comparison. Back then, he says, it was closer to Beatlemania with rabid fans and a relentless schedule of performances and television appearances. Now, he’s able to relax into the experience, connecting with audiences onstage and off, receiving as much from them as they have given to him.
And those audiences aren’t only the fans who once taped his posters to their bedroom walls. Many now bring their children – and even grandchildren – who find themselves drawn not only to the music but to the storytelling as well.
Cassidy’s career has run the gamut, from teenage magician (yes, he once performed at Jennifer Aniston’s birthday party) to television star, to pop phenomenon, to prolific television writer, producer, and creator. And now, he adds “one-man storyteller” to that résumé, not as a capstone to a long career, but as another evolving chapter.
For more information and tickets to the La Mirada Theatre performance on March 20, 2026, visit their website.
For information about Shaun and other tour dates, visit shauncassidy.com.
