R.I.P. Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali (1951-2020)

R.I.P. Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali (1951-2020)

Very sad news for the hard rock / heavy metal community as Quiet Riot‘s long-time drummer Frankie Banali has passed away after getting diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer back on April 17, 2019. Banali was given six months to live at that time but beats the odds as he passed away reportedly yesterday (August 20, 2020) at 7:18 pm at the age of 68 years old.

Frankie Banali’s select discography:
Quiet Riot — Metal Health (1983)
Quiet Riot — Condition Critical (1984)
Quiet Riot — QR III (1986)
Quiet Riot — QR (1988)
W.A.S.P. — The Headless Children (1989)
Heavy Bones — Heavy Bones (1992)
W.A.S.P. — The Crimson Idol (1992)
Quiet Riot — Terrified (1993)
Quiet Riot — Down To The Bone (1995)
W.A.S.P. — Still Not Black Enough (1995)
Quiet Riot — Alive And Well (1999)
W.A.S.P. — Unholy Terror (2001)
Quiet Riot — Guilty Pleasures (2001)
W.A.S.P. — Dying For The World (2002)
W.A.S.P. — The Neon God: Part 1 – The Rise (2004)
Quiet Riot — Rehab (2006)
Quiet Riot — Live At The US Festival, 1983 (2012)
Quiet Riot — 10 (2014)
Quiet Riot — Road Rage (2017)
Quiet Riot — One Night In Milan (2018)
Quiet Riot — Hollywood Cowboys (2019)

Frankie Banali’s Documentary:
Quiet Riot — Well Now You’re Here, There’s No Way Back (2014)

The following message was posted on Quiet Riot guitarist Alex Grossi‘s Facebook page earlier today:

“Another Thunderbird has taken flight.

Even though I have been preparing myself for this day for a while now, it is simply incomprehensible to me that you are really gone. I can’t even begin to wrap my head around the fact that I won’t be seeing you at the airport and behind the kit or hearing from you daily as I have for the past 16 years.

I take comfort in knowing that your suffering is over and that your legacy will go on forever through the iconic music you helped create. You will always be with me in my heart and will live on through all of the knowledge and values you have instilled in me.

Rest in peace Frankie, until we meet again….

Love Always,

Alex

P.S. – You and Kevin go easy on ’em up up there, ok ?”

Wikipedia states the following about Banali‘s music career (with slight edits):

“Frankie Banali was born on November 14, 1951, in Queens, New York City, New York, to Italian immigrants, Jack and Martha Banali. In 1975, he moved to Los Angeles, where he spent four years playing drums with various bands, including Steppenwolf with Nick St. Nicholas and Goldy McJohn. In 1979, Banali, along with bassist Dana Strum, was in secret rehearsals with then Quiet Riot guitarist Randy Rhoads and Ozzy Osbourne as the latter was looking for a guitar player to launch a new band. In 1980, he joined forces with Kevin DuBrow and formed DuBrow with a revolving door of musicians, before settling with former Snow guitarist Carlos Cavazo and bassist Chuck Wright. After Rudy Sarzo replaced Wright, DuBrow changed the name of the group to Quiet Riot (which was the same name of the band that DuBrow, Sarzo and Randy Rhoads had used prior to Sarzo and Rhoads leaving to join Ozzy Osbourne‘s band).

After signing with Pasha Records in September 1982, Banali and Quiet Riot found success with Metal Health, which was released six months after signing their deal with Pasha Records. In November 1983, only eight months after its release, Metal Health reached the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 charts (replacing the Police‘s Synchronicity), making it the first heavy metal album to go #1 on the charts. Metal Health eventually sold over 10 million copies worldwide and help usher in the decade of heavy metal hair rock.

By the time Condition Critical was released in July 1984, tensions began to slowly break Quiet Riot apart, but Banali held on, through lineup changes and a diminishing fan base (mostly caused by Kevin DuBrow’s erratic behavior). By 1989, Quiet Riot disbanded after touring in support of their self-titled album, which was released in October 1988.

Around the time of recording their self-titled album, he also played drums for W.A.S.P.’s The Headless Children album. After Quiet Riot disbanded, he rejoined W.A.S.P. to tour in support of the album. In 1990, Banali was called in by Faster Pussycat to replace the fired Mark Michals, during their tour in support of their 1989 album Wake Me When It’s Over.

After his mother’s death in November 1990, Banali regrouped and formed a band called Heavy Bones with guitarist Gary Hoey. They released only one album in 1992, before disbanding. In 1993, Banali rejoined Quiet Riot after Bobby Rondinelli left the band to join Black Sabbath. In 1994, he also took over as the band’s manager, overseeing the band’s business decisions. After three albums and more line-up changes (including the reunion of the classic Metal Health line-up from 1997 onwards), Quiet Riot disbanded in 2003. Banali and DuBrow reformed Quiet Riot in October 2004 with bassist Chuck Wright and new guitarist Alex Grossi. They released one album with the line-up, Rehab in 2006, before the untimely death of DuBrow in November 2007. Banali announced the dissolving of Quiet Riot on January 14, 2008.

It would not be until September 2010 that Banali (with the blessing of Kevin DuBrow‘s family) reformed Quiet Riot with Wright and Grossi. They originally hired Mark Huff, but was let go in January 2012. While Keith St. John went in to fulfill the tour dates, they hired Scott Vokoun in March 2012. In November 2013, Vokoun left and was replaced by Jizzy Pearl. And in June 2014, Quiet Riot released 10, their first album in eight years.”

After three years with Quiet Riot, Pearl gave his notice and was replaced with new lead vocalist Seann Nicols, who despite only lasting a few months, ended up recording the album Road Rage with the band. By early March 2017, American Idol finalist James Durbin was confirmed as Quiet Riot‘s new singer. The group elected to re-record Road Rage with Durbin on lead vocals and it released one more studio album Hollywood Cowboys with the singer in 2019. By the time that Hollywood Cowboys was released, Durbin was out of the band and Pearl was back in. In late May 2019, Quiet Riot performed without Banali in the line-up. Banali’s last show with Quiet Riot was at the legendary Whisky A Go-Go in West Hollywood, California, USA on October 26, 2019.”

Quiet Riot‘s “Metal Health (Bang Your Head)” video (from Metal Health album):

Quiet Riot‘s “Party All Night” video (from Condition Critical album):

Quiet Riot‘s “Condition Critical” video (from One Night In Milan):

Quiet Riot‘s “In The Blood” video (from Hollywood Cowboys):