Donnie Iris

Donnie Iris (born Dominic Ierace, February 28, 1943) is an American rock musician known for his work with the Jaggerz and Wild Cherry during the 1970s and for his solo career beginning in the 1980s with his band, the Cruisers. He wrote the No. 2 Billboard hit, "The Rapper", with the Jaggerz in 1970 and was a member of Wild Cherry. He also achieved fame as a solo artist in the early 1980s with the No. 29 hit "Ah! Leah!" and the No. 37 hit "Love Is Like a Rock."

In addition to performing on the first three Jaggerz albums and the fourth and final Wild Cherry album, Iris with his solo band has released eleven studio albums, one EP, two live albums and two compilations. He continues to intermittently release new material and tour throughout the Youngstown, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio and greater Pittsburgh areas.

Dominic Ierace was born to Samuel and Carrie Ierace in New Castle, Pennsylvania which is northwest of Pittsburgh. He grew up in Ellwood City a short distance to the southeast from New Castle. Dominic learned to sing at an early age from his mother who had sung in Curly Venezie's orchestra. He practiced by singing along with his mother's favorite singers, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. With his mother's encouragement, Donnie began singing at weddings when he was five. By the time he was eight he was performing on local television and entering talent contests.

Over time, Donnie Ierace began to develop his own interests in music with the advent of rock music, drawing inspiration from Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, later from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and even R&B and soul artists Marvin Gaye and Ray Charles in addition to other Motown acts. The popularity of rock and roll inspired Ierace to become a self-taught guitarist. When his voice changed around age 12, he gave up singing and took up the drums.

About the time he was a senior in high school (circa 1961), Ierace's voice changed again and he returned to singing. He formed a vocal doo-wop group called the Fabutons with Johnny Roth, Anthony Matteo, Lou Delessandro, and Chuckie Hasson and performed gigs in Beaver and Lawrence counties in Pennsylvania. However, the group only performed a few times before disbanding and Ierace went to college. While attending Slippery Rock State College in Slippery Rock about 16 miles to the northeast of New Castle, Ierace formed a band called the Tri-Vels with guitarist Jim Evans and drummer Dave Amodie, two fellow students at Slippery Rock. With the addition of bassist Dave Reiser, they renamed themselves Donnie and the Donnells. The band in both incarnations played R&B and pop rock covers at fraternity parties and lasted from about 1961 to 1964.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.