Frankie Banali is most known for his lengthy career as the drummer for the multi-platinum heavy metal band Quiet Riot whose “Metal Health” was the first heavy metal album to reach number one on the Billboard charts and ushered in the 80’s metal band era. He is the only member to play on every album Quiet Riot has released. His signature tone, deep pocket and iconic drum intros are immortalized on many hits including Quiet Riot’s “Cum On Feel The Noize”, “Metal Health” (Bang Your Head) Billy Idol’s “Mony Mony” and “L.A. Woman” and albums such as “Hughes/Thrall”, W.A.S.P.'s “Headless Children”and "Crimson Idol" as well as over 100 other recordings as a session player in every genre of music. He did the arrangement on the “Metal Health” album, produced many Quiet Riot recordings and took over managing the band in 1993. He lived for playing live and performed for millions of fans around the world throughout his career.
He was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer on April 17th, 2019 and given six months to live. 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 7:18 pm on August 20th in Los Angeles surrounded by his wife and daughter.
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, Aspca.org, Pancan.org, or 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.
Funeral plans will be announced at a later date.