About Donnie Iris
Donnie Iris 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 #2 Billboard hit, "The Rapper", with the Jaggerz in 1970 and was a member of Wild Cherry after the group had a #1 hit with "Play That Funky Music." He also achieved fame as a solo artist in the early 1980s with the #29 hit "Ah! Leah!" and the #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 compilation albums. He continues to intermittently release new material and tour throughout the greater Pittsburgh, Youngstown and Cleveland areas.
Dominic Ierace was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania, but grew up in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania. The son of Samuel and Carrie Ierace, young 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. Per his mother's encouragement, Ierace began singing at weddings at age five, and by eight was performing on local television and entering talent contests.
Over time, Ierace began to develop his own interests in music with the advent of rock music, drawing inspiration from Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and 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 , Ierace's voice changed again, and he got back into singing. He formed a vocal doo-wop group called the Fabutons with Johnny Roth, Anthony Matteo, Lou Delessandro, and Chuckie Hasson, and performed gigs around Beaver and Lawrence counties in Pennsylvania. However, the group only performed a few times before they disbanded and Ierace went to college.
While attending Slippery Rock State College, 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. This band in both incarnations played R&B and pop rock covers at fraternity parties and lasted from about 1961 to 1964.
Around 1964, Ierace left Donnie and the Donnells to form the Jaggerz with Benny Faiella of Gary and the Jewel Tones. After a few changes in line-up early on ), the group became popular playing R&B covers throughout western Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio. Eventually, Ierace and the Jaggerz began to write their own material and secured a contract with Gamble Records. Their first album, Introducing the Jaggerz, was released in 1969. The album was only a minor success, mainly receiving airplay in Iris' native Beaver County and the rest of the greater Pittsburgh area. Perhaps most importantly, it was the first album Ierace recorded on.
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