Donnie Iris

Donnie Iris died on Monday 26 October 2026, aged 83. His death was confirmed by his long-time concert promoter Rich Engler and by a former bandmate, and was reported by WPXI, CBS Pittsburgh and WFMJ. No official cause of death had been announced in initial reports.

He had been diagnosed with cancer in 2023, shortly after a sold out 80th birthday show, and cancelled concerts including a Youngstown date with REO Speedwagon. After chemotherapy he returned to the stage in March 2024. His last performance was on 28 September 2026 at the grand opening of Citizens Live at the Wylie in Pittsburgh. On 9 October 2026 he announced his retirement "in light of recent health issues", less than three weeks before his death.

Dominic Ierace was born on 28 February 1943 in New Castle, Pennsylvania, to Samuel and Carrie Ierace, and grew up in Ellwood City a few miles away. His mother had sung in Curly Venezie's orchestra and taught him to sing along with her favourites, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. Encouraged by her, he sang at weddings from the age of five and was performing on local television and in talent contests by eight.

Rock and roll, from Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Ray Charles and Motown, led him to teach himself guitar. When his voice broke he played drums for a while, then returned to singing as a high school senior around 1961 with a doo-wop group, the Fabutons. At Slippery Rock State College he formed the Tri-Vels, later Donnie and the Donnells, playing R&B and pop covers at fraternity parties.

Around 1964 he co-founded the Jaggerz, who became a popular R&B covers band across western Pennsylvania and northeast Ohio before signing with Gamble Records. Their debut, Introducing the Jaggerz, came out in 1969. In 1970 "The Rapper", written by Ierace, reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. He left the group in 1976.

He then studied engineering at Jeree Recording in New Brighton, Pennsylvania, and helped engineer Wild Cherry's 1978 album I Love My Music. The band recruited him as guitarist, and he toured with them and appeared on Only the Wild Survive (1979). Credited over the years as Dominic Ierace, Don Ierace and Don Iris, he settled on the name Donnie Iris.

With Wild Cherry keyboardist Mark Avsec he formed Donnie Iris and the Cruisers. Back on the Streets (1980) began on a small Cleveland label before MCA reissued it nationally; "Ah! Leah!" peaked at No. 29 in February 1981. King Cool (1981) produced "My Girl" (No. 25), "Love Is Like a Rock" (No. 37) and "Sweet Merilee", and the album gave Iris his lasting nickname. The High and the Mighty (1982) and Fortune 410 (1983), named after his trademark glasses and featuring the Atari tie-in "Do You Compute?", sold less well, and MCA dropped the band in 1984 after they refused a new producer and outside songwriters.

Iris continued with No Muss...No Fuss (1985), the Cellarful of Noise album Magnificent Obsession (1988) with Avsec, Out of the Blue (1992), Footsoldier in the Moonlight (1993), Poletown (1997), Ellwood City (2006) and the Christmas album Ah! Leluiah! (2010), along with live albums. Alongside music he ran SIMCorp, a mortgage company in Aliquippa, for nearly twenty years before selling it in 2010. He performed regularly around Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Youngstown for the rest of his life.

Iris spent his life in the area where he grew up, and his 2006 album Ellwood City was a tribute to his hometown. He was known for the oversized glasses that became part of his stage image. In his retirement statement in October 2026 he thanked his daughters and his whole family. His musical partnership and friendship with Mark Avsec lasted more than four decades.

Iris was one of the most enduring figures in Pittsburgh rock. "The Rapper" and "Ah! Leah!" remain staples of classic rock radio, and his first four albums were reissued in remastered form by Rock Candy Records in 2021. Lawrence County recognised 17 June 2006 as Donnie Iris Day, and in 2015 public voting placed him in the Pittsburgh Rock 'N Roll Legends, with a plaque at the Hard Rock Cafe in Pittsburgh. Long after his national chart years, he kept drawing generations of fans in the region he never left.