RIP Frankie Banali of Quiet Riot
Frankie Banali, the drummer for Quiet Riot, had been ill with pancreatic cancer for some time, one of the worst possible cancers you can have. After a long fight, he died Thursday (August 20) at the age of 68. Although his diagnosis came last year, he stayed in the public eye throughout his illness.
His family released this statement: “[He] put up an inspiringly brave and courageous 16-month battle to the end, and continued playing live as long as he could. Standard chemotherapy stopped working, and a series of strokes made the continuation on a clinical trial impossible. He ultimately lost the fight at 7:18 PM on Aug. 20 in Los Angeles, surrounded by his wife and daughter.”
Quiet Riot was insanely popular in the early 80s thanks to the Metal Health album in 1983. Their biggest hit was a cover of Slade’s “Cum on Feel the Noize.” This was all over MTV and rock radio in the summer of ’83.
Quiet Riot broke up in the late 80s only to reform with Banali doing double-duty as the band’s manager. He continued to work with the band with various lineups through 2019 when the cancer made it impossible to continue.
