Dino Danelli, the drummer who was the backbone of blue-eyed soul hitmakers The Rascals (nee The Young Rascals) has died at age 78.
Specifics were scant on what happened and where/when. However, group spokesperson Joe Russo wrote on Danelli’s Facebook page that the drummer struggled with coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure, requiring an angioplasty over a decade earlier.
His bandmate, guitarist Gene Cornish, paid tribute to Danelli on Facebook. “It is with a broken heart that I must tell you of the passing of Dino Danelli,” Cornish wrote Thursday on social media. “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 grew up in Jersey City, N.J., and started his career as a jazz drummer, playing with Lionel Hampton and spending time in New Orleans.
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