Danny Federici, original member of the E Street Band, known
for its longtime collaboration with rock veteran Bruce Springsteen, has passed
away. He was 58.
Federici died Thursday, April 17, at Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center in New York City after a three-year battle with
melanoma, a message posted on Bruce Springsteen’s official website says.
Federici had been playing music with Springsteen since the
1960s. He was born on January 23, 1950 in Flemington,
N.J. and met Springsteen in his
teens. He and original E Street Band drummer Vini Lopez first invited
Springsteen to join their band.
Federici’s stylish keyboard work helped define the band’s sound
on hits from “Hungry Heart,” Springsteen’s first top 10 hit, through “The
Rising,” one of the more recent collaborations with the Boss. Federici also
played the organ and glockenspiel in the 1984 hit “Born in the U. S. A.”
Last year, in November, the musician dropped out of the
group’s U.S.
tour to undergo treatment for the skin cancer. At the time, Springsteen
described Federici as “one of the pillars of our sound and has played beside me
as a great friend for more than 40 years,” as quoted by the Associated Press. “We
all eagerly await his healthy and speedy return.”
The tour was in support of the newest studio effort from the
Boss and The E Street Band, “Magic.” This was their first full-scale U.S. and
European tour in four years. Both album and tour have been greatly successful, critically
as well as commercially.
Federici made a special appearance in Indianapolis on March 20.
The musician released two solo albums, his 1997 debut, “Flemington,”
with bandmates Nils Lofgren on guitar and Garry Tallent on bass, and 2005’s
follow-up, “Out of a Dream.”
He also joined numerous other artists on their albums, such
as Van Zandt, Joan Armatrading, Graham Parker, Gary U.S. Bonds and Garland
Jeffreys.
Springsteen’s concerts scheduled for Friday in Ft. Lauderdale
and Saturday in Orlando
performance are being postponed. Replacement dates will be announced shortly.
The Federici family and the E Street family request that, in
lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund,
Springsteen’s website adds. A web site for the Fund is being established and a
link will be available shortly.
“Danny and I worked together for 40 years - he was the most
wonderfully fluid keyboard player and a pure natural musician. I loved him very
much...we grew up together,” Springsteen wrote.
