RIP: Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot) 1951-2020 (lost the battle with cancer) *

Mitch Lafon has tweeted, with Frankie Banali's permission that he's been battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer since April. Banali is of course the only Quiet Riot member from the Metal Health era still in the band. He's been absent from a lot of shows lately and this explains why.

 

i was literally just about to post a thread about this

QUIET RIOT Drummer FRANKIE BANALI Battling Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer

 

I haven't followed the band in ages but saw some mention of him missing shows and thought it odd considering he was the last connection to the "classic" line up. Hope the best for the guy. That's a frightening diagnosis.

 

One of the very first cassettes I ever got (in 1984) was Metal Health and then fairly soon after that I got Condition Critical as one of my selections from Columbia House. Fun memories, I used to love scouring those Columbia House flyers.

Honestly I don't think I ever heard much of those tapes beyond the main hits and a couple other songs. Quiet Riot, like a lot of the big 80's bands, just didn't make great albums although they all had a bunch of great songs when you went through three or four albums. Which I think is the same for every era of music but the 80's take a bigger hit for that possibly because of the new MTV way of making 'stars'. No, none of these bands were Led Zeppelin but why is that the crime of the century?

Extra props to Frankie for playing on The Headless Children by W.A.S.P. If you're like me and gave up on W.A.S.P. after The Last Command do yourself a favor and get The Headless Children!

I always respect anyone who takes their shot at the title. Keep rockin' Frankie.

 

I know the chances are near nil, but hopefully he can fully recover and come back strong. Met him after a show once, was more than genuine and happy to talk to anyone and everyone. He literally stayed there and signed and talked to every single person that stayed around, which was actually a lot of people. Had no ego about it and just smiled for the photo's, signed everything everyone had and talked to you for as long as you wanted.

Always enjoyed their music. Not one of the best by any means, but they were always a band i enjoyed listening to and seeing in concert.
Good stuff!

All the best wishes possible to Frankie ! Get well Frankie !

 

Sad to hear. Hope he can beat this.

Metal Health was my first metal album and the reason I got into Slade.

Unlike a lot of people (from what I remember of the reviews at the time) I actually loved Condition Critical and QR3. Kind of lost touch with them after that. Came back for Alive & Well, then that was it for me.

He’s put up with a lot of crap online in recent years, but hopefully he can take that mental toughness he’s had to develop over the years and apply it to dealing with his health.

 

I really hope Frankie can pull through

 

wishing him well...

 

not only does he play on most of the WASP albums from 1987-2005 but he lays down some great drumming on an album by a band he formed around 1990 called Heavy Bones

 

Those two albums were among the first 5 cassettes I ever owned as a kid. I love every song on both albums. I realize I'm probably the exception lol but they're really good hard rock albums of that era.

 

naw not alone. metal health is one of the top 25 metal albums from the 1980's imo

 

yeah, not alone. i got ALL of the quiet riot albums and i enjoy them all.
Condition Critical is outstanding !

QR3 and the self titled 4th album (technically 6th album) are their worst, but i still enjoy those from time to time as well.

With the first two with Randy Rhodes were easier available. I have the Japanese import versions, but it's a shame that most
people don't know about those 2 albums, because they are quite good! Before Frankie's time in the band, so of course he wouldn't
really mention them or acknowledge them. Other than those 2 albums i have the rest all signed by Frankie and a few signed by Chuck Wright
who played on some of their albums. Good stuff !

 

Metal Health was my first metal/hard rock album. I still own the thing. Really sorry to hear this.

 

I hope he pulls through but I understand the reality of pancreatic cancer.

Both his parents also died of cancer, btw.

 

Interesting. I find those albums to be shockingly bad. "Shockingly" because I guess I figured anything Randy Rhoads touched must be golden or at least hint at greatness. But to me they sound like the type of songs a high school band would do if they were taking their first crack at writing.

Several times I've thought about starting a Song By Song thread about those two albums (because I love Randy and sometimes wonder if I'm just missing something) but I'd be too negative.

 

This is sad. I played Metal Health constantly back in the day, and saw them on the next tour. From the documentary from a few years ago, he seems like a super cool guy too.

 

Hopefully Frankie can pull through but that type of cancer is not very promising. I hope he can beat the odds...

 

Sad news. He's a great drummer. Stay strong, Frankie!

 

I read about this on Blabbermouth today and thought about posting it here but I felt a bigger fan of the band would be more appropriate. I remember seeing Frankie on the "Behind The Music" Quiet Riot episode from a while back that had some of his commentary about the band and the effect it had on him as well as his Mother who got sick and passed away. I remember him saying that after his Mom died that he swam in a bottle of alcohol for a few months to ease the pain of losing her. He loved his Mother so much and always looked out for her which is kind of rare for musicians on the road. I hope someone is looking out for Frankie and his health. My thoughts and prayers go out to him and I hope he continues to recover.

 

This sucks...

 

I wish him all the best, so difficult to battle this crap
Banali is a fantastic hard rock drummer

 

RIP Frankie.

 

Eddie Trunk just broke the news of Frankie’s passing.
Rock In Peace brother. You fought a brave battle.

 

RIP

 

Passed away from cancer