Dino Danelli Biography, Net Worth, Cause of Death, Age, Wife, Married, Children

Dino Danelli, drummer for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Jersey band the Rascals died on Thursday, December 15.

Who was Dino Danelli?

Dino Danelli was a July 23, 1944, birthdate. He was a drummer from the USA. Danelli is most known for being the drummer and founding member of the rock band The Young Rascals. “One of the great underappreciated rock drummers in history,” has been said of him. Together with the (Young) Rascals, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

Danelli was a trained jazz drummer who was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, into an Italian American family. He had performed with Lionel Hampton and was performing R&B in New Orleans by 1961. In 1962, he made his way back to New York with the band Ronnie Speaks & the Elrod’s.

He occasionally collaborated with great performers like Little Willie John. In 1963, Danelli got to know Felix Cavaliere, a pianist with classical training, and Eddie Brigati, a pickup vocalist on the neighborhood R&B scene. Later that year, Danelli and Cavaliere went to Las Vegas in an attempt to make it big with a casino’s house band. They stayed there until the beginning of 1964 before returning to New York City.

Young Rascals and Rascals

The Young Rascals were created by Danelli in late 1964 in collaboration with Cavaliere, Brigati, and a guitarist named Gene Cornish who was born in Canada.

To support performer Sandu Scott and her Scottys in Las Vegas in January 1963–1964, Cavaliere and Danelli made the trip, but they later returned to New York City. In Garfield, New Jersey’s Choo Choo Club, they made their stage debut alongside the Young Rascals that month.

Danelli and Cavaliere frequently sought out a fresh repertoire for the trio to perform in addition to playing drums (before Cavaliere and Brigati started writing original music). He mentioned their visits to record shops in an interview from 1988, citing songs like “Mustang Sally” and “Good Lovin’” as a result. For seven years, he was with the Rascals (1965–72).

Modern Drummer magazine about Rascals Band

There were a handful of memorable drummers from the era that spawned what is now called “Classic Rock.” Ringo, of course; Charlie Watts of the Stones, Keith Moon of the Who, Bonham from Led Zep and Dino. “When the Young Rascals came out, all the Beatle records went away,” said Liberty DeVitto, Billy Joel’s legendary drummer in an interview with Dino he conducted for Modern Drummer magazine, an excerpt of which follows.

The Rascals and their Songs

The Rascals (initially known as The Young Rascals) were an American rock band, formed in Garfield, New Jersey, United States, in 1965

A Beautiful Morning
Time Peace: The Rascals’ Greatest
A Girl Like You
Groovin’ · 1967
How Can I Be Sure [Mono]
Groovin’ · 1967
You Better Run
Groovin’ · 1967

Dino Danelli was a Jazz Prodigy

Dino Danelli was a jazz prodigy from the Jersey City-Hoboken area who broke onto the scene in his early teens. He learned from jazz legends like Krupa and Buddy Rich who frequently performed at the Metropole, a very upscale club in New York City, where the Metropole’s management took a shine to the budding star and set him up with a cot in a dressing room years before he became famous.

Young Dino performed with a rock and roll band during the day at the Metropole, traveled to New Jersey occasionally at night with his drum set, and, at the age of fifteen, shared the stage with Lionel Hampton.

Dino Danelli Wife

Dino Danelli could have been married but there are no details about his wife or relationship. He could have been a father with kids but there are no details about his children.

Dino Danelli Cause of Death

It was reported by bandmate Gene Cornish on 15 December 2022 that Danelli died at the age of 78. Dino Danelli is the drummer who brought a jazzman’s virtuosity to the rock ‘n’ roll sound of the Rascals.

The cause of Dino Danelli’s death is yet to be made public.

He passed away Thursday, Dec. 15, in New York City, according to his Facebook page and confirmed by his bandmates.