This Singer Almost Self-Destructed Until God Stepped In

Published: February 20, 2026

By Michaela Gordoni

Tony Orlando is one of our honored presenters at this year’s Movieguide® Faith & Values Awards Gala, which airs next month.

Orlando, known for his long music career and hits like “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree,” will present for the Best Streaming/TV for Mature Audiences category.

The nominations are BOSTON BLUE: Episode 1.8 “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son,” NCIS episode 23.7 “God Only Knows,” HOUSE OF DAVID: Episode 208: “The Truth Revealed,” MARTIN SCORSESE PRESENTS: THE SAINTS: “Peter” and RUTH & BOAZ.

Several decades ago, Orlando went through depression after his sister and friend died and when he lost his show, TONY ORLANDO AND DAWN.

“As I went, in the late ’70s, through crisis, like all of us — you have to be far enough down to want to look up, and it got to that point where I was at the low end of my life,” he said on THE 700 CLUB. “It was the Lord’s love and my recognition of His presence in my life that made me realize how important it was to give Him the glory and be there for Him.”

During that time, he experimented with cocaine for over six months and began to “self-destruct.”

“Fortunately, I was brought up with the Lord as my Savior,” he said. “And I put the brakes on because of that upbringing, because of what I got from my parochial grammar school times, and because of my grandmother who was Latina and Puerto Rican, and prayed every day, and sat with the rosaries.”

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Orlando credits his faith for getting him through tough times.

“It all came down to my faith,” Orlando previously told Closer Weekly. “My faith in the Lord was my saving grace. I was ashamed of disappointing God, who had gifted me with all this.”

“I’ve always told people to keep the faith. It sounds like a cliche, but it’s not. You have to keep the faith, so you are not alone.”

Orlando was brought up as a Catholic but also says he is a born-again Christian, not that it makes much difference to him.

He explained to Beliefnet, “I don’t find any difference between Catholicism and [that]. All of us believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

He added, “That’s what we are. That’s our religion. It’s all the same thing.”

You can see Orlando present at the Awards on March 5 on Great American Family.

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