Longtime Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on August 20th at the age of 68. Banali, who joined Quiet Riot in 1982, kept the reformed band running after the 2007 death of frontman Kevin DuBrow from a cocaine overdose. Banali will forever be remembered as the drummer on Quiet Riot's Top Five 1983 hit cover of Slade's “Cum On Feel The Noize” and the band's Metal Health album, which made history as the first heavy metal album to top the Billboard 200 albums chart. To date, Metal Health has sold over six million units in the U.S. alone.
The Metal Health album also featured the Top 40 hit, “Bang Your Head (Metal Health).” The band's 1984 followup, Critical Condition, stalled at Number 15, and featured another Slade cover — “Mama Weer All Crazee Now.”
In 2019 Quiet Riot released its most recent album, called Hollywood Cowboys. In addition to Banali, the set featured American Idol finalist James Durbin, bassist Chuck Wright, and guitarist Alex Grossi.