Quiet Riot’s drummer Frankie Banali has died aged 68 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
The news was announced by the heavy metal star’s family.
They said in a statement that the rocker died on Thursday surrounded by his wife and daughter at their home in Los Angeles.
Opening up in a heartbreaking statement, Frankie’s family said he “put up an inspiringly brave and courageous 16-month battle to the end.”
They added: “And continued playing live as long as he could. Standard chemotherapy stopped working, and a series of strokes made the continuation on a clinical trial impossible.
(Image: Getty Images)
“He ultimately lost the fight at 7:18PM on Aug. 20 in Los Angeles surrounded by his wife and daughter.”
Frankie is survived by wife, Regina, and 23-year-old daughter, Ashley, alongside many rescue animals who the musician considered “family.”
Frankie, who hails from New York, moved from his Queens hometown to Los Angeles in the 1970’s to pursue his music dreams.
(Image: Getty Images)
The star was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in April 2019 and shared the news with his fans months later.
He was taken to the emergency room at the time for “shortness of breath, leg pain and loss of energy.”
The disease was confirmed after a scan of his lungs and liver revealed spots. This led to a discovery of a tumor on his pancreas.
(Image: WireImage)
The star had been undergoing chemotherapy treatment since Spring 2019.
Opening up about his cancer battle on Eddie Trunk’s SiriusXM show last June, Frankie said: ”I’m still fighting the good fight. I’m still doing the chemotherapy.
“I switched to a different chemotherapy a few months ago. And the side effects on this one are pretty brutal, and they pretty much last into the next round of chemo.
“So you kind of don’t get a break for about three weeks, and then you get about maybe 10 days off, and then the cycle starts again. But it’s part of what I’m doing.”
The star said the toll the chemo took on his body made him lose his famous long hair though.
He added: I knew in advance that the different formula was really gonna wipe out the hair.
“So right now you probably wouldn’t recognise me because not only did it take all the hair on the top of my head, but it took my beard, my eyebrows, my eyelashes.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
