Dennis Locorriere

Dennis Michael Locorriere (June 13, 1949 – May 16, 2026) was an American musician best known as a founding member, guitarist, and primary lead vocalist of the country rock group Dr. Hook (formerly Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show).

Locorriere was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the only child to teenage parents Ruth (nee Mantovani) and Lenny Locorriere, both of Italian descent. Because of his parents' young age, Locorriere knew "they didn’t have the knowledge or maturity to keep it together, and, as a result, they never lived as man and wife and the three of us didn’t stand a chance of becoming a family." Dennis was raised by his grandparents Ralph and Angelina Mantovani in Union City, where his mother, who was nineteen when she gave birth to Dennis, was "in and out of the picture until she got a little older".

The first record he bought was "Hey! Baby" by Bruce Channel. His mother knew singer Sam Cooke when he was still a gospel singer, and at age ten was taken to see him live at Palisades Amusement Park.

Locorriere's biggest influence was The Beatles: "Before I started out in the music business I was a music fan listening to the likes of Sam Cooke, but it was when I actually saw The Beatles playing live that I thought ‘perhaps I could actually do this’." Locorriere learned how to play the drums at first, and played in local bars. Dennis did not like having to set up and take down the drums after every gig, and would try to move his set-up drum kit in his car, before giving up the drums and learning the harmonica as he "could fit (it) into my pocket and carry (it) around with me."

In 1968, Locorriere met the band The Chocolate Papers, who had moved to Union City from Alabama. The Chocolate Papers, which included Ray Sawyer, George Cummings, and Billy Francis, hired Locorriere as a vocalist and bassist. By 1969, the band became Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, later shortened to Dr. Hook in 1975. Locorriere was the primary lead vocalist, and was bassist until 1972, shortly after the release of their debut album, when he switched to lead guitar and hired Jance Garfat as bassist. Dr. Hook was the recipient of more than 60 gold and platinum singles, gaining No. 1 chart status in more than 42 countries.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.