As some of you know, I'm a huge Bruce Springsteen fan. I woke up and heard this devastating news:
From Backstreets.com
DANNY FEDERICI, 1950 - 2008
"Danny Federici, the E Street Band's organist and keyboard player since its inception, died this afternoon, April 17, 2008 at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City after a three-year battle with melanoma.
The Federici family and the E Street family request that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund; more details on the Fund will be forthcoming.
The Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concerts scheduled for Friday in Ft. Lauderdale and Saturday in Orlando are being postponed. Replacement dates will be announced shortly.
We extend our deepest sympathies to Danny's family, friends, bandmates, and blood brothers; we here at Backstreets, and surely all those fans touched by his spirit, mourn with you."
I knew he was sick, but they did a good job of keeping the details quiet. The impression from official statements was that Danny was improving and just going through "routine" treatments. I never expected to hear that he would die.
Bruce has a track, released on
Greatest Hits, called "Blood Brothers." It's an ode to his E Street Band members. In 2000, he performed the song live on the last date of his tour, as the last song, changing the lyrics to the last verse as follows:
Now I'm out here on this road
Alone on this road tonight
I close my eyes and feel so many friends around me
In the early evening light
And the miles we have come
And the battles won and lost
Are just so many roads traveled
So many rivers crossed
And I ask God for the strength
And faith in one another
'Cause it's a good night for a ride
'Cross this river to the other side
My blood brothers." Rest in Peace, Blood Brother "Phantom" Dan.
Here is Danny, playing next to Bruce, in his final performance with the E Street Band.
