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Danny Federici, E Street Band Pianist, Dies at 58
18-Apr-2008
Written by: Mallory Groff
Piano player for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band died on Thursday after a three year battle with Melanoma.
A member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band passed away on Thursday. Danny Federici, the piano player for the group, pulled out of Springsteen’s most recent tour in November so he could undergo treatment for skin cancer. He died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from Melanoma, which he had been battling for a total of three years, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Federici can be heard playing the organ in Springsteen’s hit, “Born to Run,” and playing the organ and glockenspiel in “Born in the USA.” L.A. Times critic, Robert Hilburn, commented on Federici’s impact on music and the band by saying about Federici’s playing,
“Sometimes it felt like the New Jersey shore, where he came from: sometimes bright, sometimes melancholy. Danny was a marvelous musician, but for fans . . . his importance went beyond his keyboard work. There has long been a sense of brotherhood and community surrounding the E Street Band and Danny, through his playing and personality, contributed an essential element to that spirit.”
Federici met Springsteen in the 1960s and invited Springsteen to join the E Street Band. Federici stayed with the group until this past November. He played with them and Springsteen for the last time on March 20, when he made a special appearance. Federici was 58 years old.
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