Donnie Iris, the pop-rock singer who first came to widespread attention with the group the Jaggerz and their 1970 hit “The Rapper” and later had a 1980 solo hit in “Ah! Leah!,” died October 26 in Pittsburgh three years after being diagnosed with bladder cancer. He was 83.
His death was announced on Facebook by bandmate and drummer Joe Vitale Jr. A cause of death was not specified, but Iris announced his retirement from concert performing October 9 due to “recent health issues.”
“While I will no longer be performing live,” Iris wrote to fans, “the memories, the music, and the connections we have built together will always remain close to my heart. Thank you for your loyalty, your energy, and your love through all the years. It has been my great honor to make music for you.”
In the post from Vitale, Iris’ drummer in the band Donnie Iris & The Cruisers, writes: “I have some very sad news to share. Many of you may already know about this, but today my boss and friend Donnie Iris passed away at the age of 83. I have had the honor and blessing of playing drums for Donnie Iris and the Cruisers for the past 5 years and it has been an extraordinary journey….My deepest condolences to Donnie’s daughters and family. To the band and crew, you are all so wonderful and loved working with all of you all these years. Donnie, love ya brother RIP my friend.”
Born Dominic Ierace on February 28, 1943, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, Iris began singing at an early age at weddings and talent shows, eventually pivoting toward rock ‘n’ roll and doo-wop as he formed bands with high school and college friends in the early and mid-’60s. One of those groups called themselves the Jaggers, in a nod to their favorite singer, but quickly changed the spelling to Jaggerz.
The group’s first album, 1969’s Introducing the Jaggerz, was a modest success at best, but the band’s sophomore effort, 1970’s We Went to Different Schools Together on the Kama Sutra label included the song “The Rapper.” Written and sung by Iris, then still going by his real name, it fit right in with the bubblegum music fad and soared to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The catchy song featured a rather ominous chorus in which Iris warned a young woman against a smooth-talking man (i.e., a “rapper”) with the repeated lyrics: “Rap, rap, rap, they call him the rapper/Rap, rap, rap, you know what he’s after.”
Although the Jaggerz failed to release a notable follow-up to “The Rapper,” the group stayed together until 1977. From there, Iris joined the band Wild Cherry, who’d had a No. 1 hit with 1976’s “Play that Funky Music,” but the band was past its peak popularity during Iris’ tenure.
Iris left Wild Cherry in 1979, forming Donnie Iris and the Cruisers, and in 1980 that group released its first album Back on the Streets, which included the Iris-co-written song “Ah! Leah!” The single began receiving local airplay in the Boston-Cleveland-Pittsburgh markets, and within months had gone nationwide. “Ah! Leah!” peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 but became ubiquitous on album-oriented-rock track stations and later classic rock outlets. The band toured extensively, their video of “Ah! Leah!” became a staple on early MTV.
The group scored a more modest hit with “Love Is Like a Rock,” from the 1981 album King Cool. Other singles and tours followed but none matched the success of the band’s “Ah! Leah!” heyday.
Iris himself continued to record and perform until his recent retirement. He remained a beloved, favorite-son performer in the Pittsburgh area. Watch a tribute to Iris from the city’s WPXI-TV below.
Complete survivor information was not immediately available.