All four original members of ‘60s band The Rascals will reunite for the first time in 40 years as the soul / rock band reunites to help out a friend.
Felix Cavaliere, Eddie Brigati, Gene Cornish and Dino Danelli will play at Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Grill in downtown Manhattan Saturday, April 24.
The boys’ first gig under The Rascals moniker in four decades will benefit the Kristen Ann Carr Fund. Named after the late daughter of Bruce Springsteen co-manager Barbara Carr and her husband, rock writer Dave Marsh, the fund fights the good fight against cancer. It established a comprehensive sarcoma laboratory at New York City’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and provides sarcoma fellowships in surgery and oncology at the facility. It also supports programs specializing in helping teens and young adults cope with cancer and other serious illnesses.
Saturday’s fundraiser will also honor E Street Band guitarist Stevie Van Zandt and his wife Maureen.
“We first met around 1980 to discuss reuniting the band and have tried every five years or so,” Stevie Van Zandt said. “Maureen suggested we give it one more shot and sure enough it took Kristen’s amazing spirit to finally get it done.”
This may be one-time-only affair for the original Rascals. Evidently, Van Zandt, who played mobster / strip club owner Silvio Dante on HBO’s “The Sopranos,” with wife Maureen playing his TV wife Gabriella, made The Rascals an offer they couldn’t refuse.
“I speak on behalf of the band when I say all the money offers in the world could not entice the Rascals to reunite,” guitarist Gene Cornish said. “But four phone calls from Stevie and without hesitation we enthusiastically and immediately agreed to both support this wonderful cause and honor Stevie and Maureen.”
For more information on the Kristen Ann Carr Fund benefit, please click here.