Soul Rock band The Rascals reunited for the second time in the last 40 years to honor Steven Van Zandt, E-Street band guitarist who inducted The Rascals into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame back in 1997 but also his wife, Maureen. Van Zandt had been trying hard to get the group back together and now finally has all four of the original band members committed to the reunion. The original lineup of – keyboardist Felix Cavaliere, singer Eddie Brigati, guitarist Gene Cornish and drummer Dino Danelli – which became famous for the hit singles “Good Lovin’” and “People Got to Be Free,” gathered last Saturday, April 24th, at the Kristen Ann Carr benefit at New York’s Tribeca Grill.

“We first met around 1980 to discuss reuniting the band and have tried every five years or so. Maureen suggested we give it one more shot and sure enough it took Kristen’s amazing spirit to finally get it done,” Van Zandt said in a statement to Rolling Stone magazine. “Rehearsals have been incredible and of course my hope is they can stay together and finally show the world why they are one of rock & roll history’s greatest bands.”
The Rascals reunited for a show in support of the Kristen Ann Carr fund, which is a group founded in 1993 by Bruce Springsteen’s co-manager Barbara Carr and her husband Dave Marsh to honor their daughter, Kristen, who passed away at the age of 21 from sarcoma. According to livedaily.com, the Kristen Ann Carr Fund supplies grants for cancer research and also 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: “Improve all aspects of cancer patient life with an emphasis on adolescents and young adults.”
“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 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.”
This was the first time all four members reunited since the Rascals split in 1970 and the first time the soul legends have performed together since their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 at 10:30 am and is filed under News.