Frankie Banali, the drummer for Quiet Riot has passed away at the age of 68. The drummer was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer April 17 of 2019 and was given six months to live according to the source Loudwire.
Banali’s passing was confirmed by his wife Regina who made a statement saying, “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 7:18PM on August 20th in Los Angeles surrounded by his wife and daughter.”
The drummer was not one of the original band members of Quiet Riot, however he did join the band for their album Metal Health which was the first metal album to hit number one on the Billboard charts. Metal Health was released in 1983 which was Quiet Riot’s third album. Banali also played the drums for the band W.A.S.P. on seven different albums.
Quiet Riot’s song “Metal Health” has been used in various different video games such as, Showdowns: Legends of Wrestling, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Guitar Hero Encore: Rock’s the 80s and Rocks Band Blitz. Quiet Riot was also mentioned in various songs by various bands, one specifically being Weezer’s “Heart Song” where the lyric said, “Quiet Riot got me started with the banging of my head.”
The statement of his passing continued with who he was survived by listing the following, “Frankie is survived by his devoted wife Regina, loving daughter Ashley, many dear friends, dedicated fans, and a menagerie of rescue animals all of whom are family. He was a long time advocate for animal rescue, a spokesperson for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, and a sponsor of Children International. Donations in his name are encouraged for Fixnation.org, Pancan.org, Children.org. His wish for everyone is that you be your own health advocate for early detection so you may live long and rescue many animals.”
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