Frank Stallone may be best known as the younger brother of Rocky’s Sylvester Stallone. But the career of the 59-year-old singer, actor, songwriter and one-time celebrity boxer, to quote the title of his Grammy and Golden Globe-nominated hit from the movie Staying Alive, is Far From Over.

The Philadelphia native, whose father, Frank Sr., lives in Wellington, is the headliner of the annual Feast of Little Italy in Abacoa. He’s also currently filming a reality show about his life and career for TruTV, produced by the Weinstein Co.
Question: Do you do a lot of these Italian-American festivals?

Answer: I’ve done quite a few of them all over the country, including the biggest, in Milwaukee, even though I don’t know any Italian songs.

Q: That’s funny. I guess I wouldn’t have thought of Milwaukee as having a big Italian community.

A: Huge. Big time. It’s like Chicago. It’s only actually 60 or so miles away from Chicago, so I think it gets some of the spillover from Chicago’s Italian community. The (festivals) are fun to do, because you get to hang around some folks and have a good time, although I’m doing them less and less. I’m doing more of my rock and roll stuff, so I don’t do the standards as much.

Q: Your last album, 2007’s “Heart and Souls,” is more on the acoustic tip.

A: I have three shows I do, the big band show, the rock show and the acoustic stuff. At the Italian festival it’s more of the jazz stuff with the quartet. My dad lives down there in Wellington — September was his 90th birthday — and he’s still got a lot of energy, so he’ll hopefully be there. I pop down there some, now that he’s getting older. I might come down for polo season.

Q: What made you turn back to your rock roots?

A: Because that’s where all the hit records were from. I was doing the big band thing, but I lost touch. I play lead guitar, but when doing the jazz thing I wasn’t playing — I was standing there singing in a tuxedo. I just played the Hard Rock in Vegas with a power trio, which was a lot of fun. It’s just a change. The big band (music) is fun, but this is fun, too.

Q: I found out something I never knew — that John Oates, of Hall and Oates, was in your band Valentine back in Philadelphia!
A: Yeah! Daryl Hall auditioned for the group, too, but he was getting married and had to go to a band that was making money, which obviously wasn’t us. (Laughs) It’s been quite a journey. And now I’m on the brink of having my own series!

Q: Tell me about it.

A: We’ve finished filming, and we’re getting a good reaction. It’s called Stallone … Frank, That Is. It’s very funny, and sad, with music and a bunch of characters. It’ll be about me traveling around with my band, and how I’ve maintained a career. Most of my friends are retired and grandparents, and I haven’t gotten that far yet. My friends are like old men, and I’m out there, rocking hard.

Q: How is it sad?

A: There are a lot of things I’ve missed over the years because of my dedication to music. Rocky came out and destroyed my career. I’d been banging around the business for 12 years, and then Rocky came out and took away my credibility, nationally. Before he became famous, I was the one who was known around Philly, and when he became famous, it was like “Oh, so you’re his brother. What do you do?” I wasn’t used to that. I had been in the big local rock band.

Q: But you’re still at it.

A: You stick with it. You don’t pack up. Most of the people I started out in music with, 90 percent of them have quit … The first time they had sex with a girl, they left the band. I have had that question posed to me — “What’s more important, me or the band?” and I’m like “You probably shouldn’t ask that.” I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do. I’m much more comfortable on stage than I am walking on the ground … It’s like Tom Hanks said, “There’s no crying in baseball.” There’s no quitting in music.

Q: The show sounds like fun!

A: There’s nothing on TV, on reality TV that’s for Baby Boomers. It’s all the Kardashians and stuff like that, that doesn’t have any helpful information. It’s a bunch of whiny rich kids. I came from the generation that first saw Elvis, who witnessed Woodstock, the assassination of (President John F. Kennedy) and of Martin Luther King Jr., all these incredible things that happened. There’s nothing on TV for us, and I plan to change that … You’re not washed up in your 50s. That’s old thinking. My father’s 90, so hopefully that means I’ll keep rocking for a long time.

FRANK STALLONE: Saturday, 8 p.m., Feast of Little Italy, Abacoa Town Center, Jupiter. Other entertainment acts include Peter Lemongello, Franco Corsi, Lissette, Larry Chance and the Earls and the Legends of Doo-Wop.

The feast also includes lots of food (Italian, of course!), cooking demonstrations, wine seminars, a children’s area and a game midway.

Hours: Today, 3-10 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

Admission: $5

Info: feastoflittleitaly.com or call (561) 427-0500