1. Daniel Paul Federici was an American musician, best known as a founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, where he was its organist, accordionist and glockenspiel player.
15 Facts About Danny Federici
1. 2.
In 2014, Danny Federici was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band.
3.
Danny Federici started to play accordion when he was seven years old, which he learned from watching The Lawrence Welk Show.
4.
When he, along with Vini Lopez, started the band Child at the end of the 1960s, their choice for a singer fell on Bruce Springsteen; Danny Federici joined Springsteen in other early efforts such as Steel Mill.
5.
Danny Federici's organ fills are a key component in the E Street sound, and sometimes take on a more prominent role, such as on the hit "Hungry Heart".
6.
Danny Federici pioneered the trademark E Street glockenspiel sound with a rare keyboard glockenspiel known as a Jenco Celestette, which Danny would perch atop his Hammond B3 Organ.
7.
Danny Federici subsequently used electronic keyboards to simulate the glockenspiel sound.
8.
Danny Federici's haunting accordion and B3 work became an integral component of their Southern Rock sound, and he co-wrote several tracks with lead singer Franklin Jenkins.
9.
Danny Federici followed this up with a smooth jazz album Sweet, self-released on Backstreets.
10.
Danny Federici performed on other artists' records as well, including those of Joan Armatrading, Graham Parker, Gary US Bonds and Garland Jeffreys.
11.
On November 21,2007, it was announced that Danny Federici would take a leave of absence from Springsteen and the E Street Band's ongoing Magic Tour to pursue treatment for melanoma, and was temporarily replaced by veteran musician Charles Giordano.
12.
Danny Federici made his only return to the stage on March 20,2008, when he appeared for portions of a Springsteen and E Street Band performance at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
13.
Danny Federici died on April 17,2008, at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, having suffered for three years with melanoma.
14.
Danny Federici's final show with the band on November 19,2007, was released as an archival recording on nugs.
15.
Danny Federici was featured as soloist on organ and accordion more than he usually was, and Springsteen gives a special introduction to him, to great audience response.