Quiet Riot to Continue Banging Their Heads on Tour Following Drummer’s Death

Quiet Riot will carry on touring following the death of drummer Frankie Banali, the group’s strongest thread back to its chart-topping heyday.

The band, which now features former Type O Negative and Danzig drummer Johnny Kelly behind the kit, intends to play a couple of shows next month and a smattering of dates beginning in spring next year. “It was Frankie Banali’s wish that the band continue and we keep the music and the legacy alive,” the group wrote on Facebook.

Banali died in August after a months-long battle with pancreatic cancer. He joined the group in 1982 and played on its breakthrough album, 1983’s Metal Health, the first heavy-metal LP to top Billboard’s albums chart. That record featured the singles “Cum on Feel the Noize” and “Metal Health (Bang Your Head),” both of which became staples of hard-rock radio and MTV in the network’s infancy. Quiet Riot’s follow-up the next year, Condition Critical, was also a hit on the strength of “Mama Weer All Crazee Now.”

Although the group carried on in fits and starts over the decades, its lineup frequently changed. Only Banali played on all of the band’s albums since Metal Health, and he was the one who kept the group going following the 2007 death of lead singer Kevin DuBrow.

Now the band’s strongest link to its past is bassist Chuck Wright, who played on two Metal Health tracks, including the title song, and has played with the band off and on since then; he has been the group’s bassist since 2010. The rest of the current Quiet Riot lineup includes vocalist Jizzy Pearl, who has fronted the band off and on over the past decade, and guitarist Alex Grossi, who joined in 2010. In a statement, the band said, “Johnny Kelly has been doing a great job filling in on drums this past year with Frankie’s blessing” and that it was continuing “because life goes on.”

Quiet Riot Tour Dates

October 9, 2020 – Urich, MO @ Grand Stage Amphitheater
October 23, 2020 – Reading, PA @ The Reverb
March 20, 2021 – The Dalles, OR @ Granada Theater
April 17, 2021 – Woodford, VA @ The Groove Music Hall
April 24, 2021 – Arnold’s Park, IA @ The Roof Garden
July 2, 2021 – Menahga, MN @ Mid Summer Music Festival
July 25, 2021 – Pownal, VT @ Green Mountain Race Track
July 28, 2021 – Redmond, OR @ Des Shuttes City Fair
July 31, 2021 – Wilmington, OH @ Rock The Block
August 7, 2021 – McMinville, OR @ Yamhill County Fair
October 30, 2021 – Larchwood, IA @ Grand Falls Resort Casino
Date TBA – Des Plaines, IL @ Des Plaines Theater
Date TBA – Grover Hill, OH @ Wetzel Motor Rally