Rascals Drummer Dino Danelli Dies At 78
Dino Danelli, drummer with ’60s legends the Rascals, has died at age 78. “It is with a broken heart that I must tell you of the passing of Dino Danelli,” Rascals guitarist Gene Cornish wrote Thursday on Facebook. “He was my brother and the greatest drummer I’ve ever seen. I am devastated at this moment. Rest in peace, Dino; I love you brother.”
Danelli co-founded the band as the Young Rascals in 1965 with Cornish, keyboardist Felix Cavaliere and percussionist Eddie Brigati. The New Jersey band kicked off their career with 1965’s “I Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore.” They followed with a string of classics. Some of their hits included “Good Lovin,'” “Groovin'” and “People Got to Be Free.” The band split up in the early 1970s.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 with a rousing induction speech by Steven Van Zandt. He (somewhat ludicrously) said that the Rascals were the first rock and roll band ever. He acknowledged the existence of the Beach Boys, the Byrds, “and over in England, some guys were making some noise.”
“But in the real world – in the center of the universe – New Jersey, the Rascals were the first band!” Of Dino Danelli, he said, “With all due respect to my drummer friends – and most of my friends are drummers – he was the greatest rock drummer ever.” In the ’80s, Dinelli played drums in Van Zandt’s band, the Disciples of Soul.
He joked, “He also gained fame a few years later by being the last individual in the music business to go with the Beatles haircut.”
Van Zandt was always a champion for the band, and in 2012 he convinced the four original members to reunite for their first public performances in over 40 years with “The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream,” a multi-media show that told their story via video but also saw the band giving what would be their final performances.
Celebrity Deaths 2022: Musicians, Entertainers & Cultural Figures We Lost
