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,”…
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 15: Dino Danelli of The Rascals performs at “The Rascals: Once Upon A Dream” Broadway Sneak Peek at Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on April 15, 2013 in New York City.
(Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)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
We've had to say goodbye to some big names this year in the worlds of entertainment and beyond.
Scroll through the gallery below to see the musicians, celebrities and other cultural figures we've lost in 2022
Sidney Poitier
Evening Standard/Getty Images
Bob Saget
Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Ronnie Spector
Jack Kay/Daily Express/Getty Images
Peter Bogdanovich
Araya Diaz/Getty Images
André Leon Talley
Cindy Ord/Getty Images
Gaspard Ulliel
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Woodstock Music Festival co-producer Micael Lang
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
Meat Loaf
Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Louie Anderson
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Howard Hesseman
Matthew Peyton/Getty Images
Miss USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
Mark Lanegan
Mark Davis/Getty Images
Gary Brooker
Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Ivan Reitman
Theo Wargo/Getty Images
Traci Braxton
Theo Wargo/Getty Images
William Hurt
Charley Gallay/Getty Images
Scott Hall
Larry Busacca/Getty Images
Taylor Hawkins
Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
Tom Parker of The Wanted
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Gilbert Gottfried
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Robert Morse
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Madeleine Albright
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Naomi Judd
Stephen Cohen/Getty Images
Alan White, drummer for Yes
Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Andy Fletcher, keyboardist/co-founder of Depeche Mode
Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images
Alec John Such, original Bon Jovi bassist
Theo Wargo/Getty Images For The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
James Caan
Matt Carr/Getty Images
Tony Sirico
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
Ivana Trump
(Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images)Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images
William Hart, Lead Singer Of The Delfonics
Don Paulsen/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Paul Sorvino
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Tony Dow
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Bill Russell
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Nichelle Nichols
(Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images
Olivia Newton-John
Cole Bennetts/Getty ImagesJoe E. Tata (Nat from Beverly Hills, 90210)
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Mikhail Gorbachev
Photo by White House Photos/Getty Images
Bernard Shaw
Photo by Mark Mainz/Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II
Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images
Ken Starr
Photo By Pool/Getty Images
Louise Fletcher (Nurse Ratched from 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest')
David Livingston/Getty Images
Coolio
Brad Barket/Getty Images
Wrestling icon Antonio Inoki
Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images
Sacheen Littlefeather
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Loretta Lynn
Terry Wyatt/Getty Images
Angela Lansbury
Evan Agostini/Getty Images
Robbie Coltrane
Ian Gavan/Getty Images
Leslie Jordan
Vivien Killilea/Getty Images
Jerry Lee Lewis
Evening Standard/Getty Images
Julie Powell
Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images
Jeff Cook of Alabama
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Kevin Conroy
Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images
Dan McCafferty of Nazareth
Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
John Aniston
Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images
Jason David Frank
Daniel Zuchnik/Getty Images
Irene Cara
United Artists/Archive Photos/Getty Images
Christine McVie
Davidson/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Wilko Johnson
Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
Gaylord Perry
Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
Brad William Henke
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Bob McGrath of 'Sesame Street'
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
Kirstie Alley
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images
Mills Lane
Ken Levine /Allsport/Getty Images
Dorothy Pitman Hughes
Monica Schipper/Getty Images
Stephen "tWitch" Boss
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Billie Moore
Gary Newkirk/Allsport/Getty Images
Dino Danelli
Don Paulsen/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Ray Liotta
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Vin Scully
Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images
Terry Hall
Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images
Fighters Only World Mixed Martial Arts Awards 2011
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Pele
Xavi Torrent/Getty Images
Vivienne Westwood
Francois Durand/Getty Images
