Felix Cavaliere (born November 29, 1942) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and keyboard player for

the Young Rascals ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. Although he was a member of

Joey Dee and the Starliters Joey Dee and the Starliters (also credited as Joey Dee and the Starlighters) is an American popular music group. The group is best known for their million-selling recording "Peppermint Twist" (1961). The group's most notable lineup is considere ...

, known for their hit "

Peppermint Twist "Peppermint Twist" is a song written by Joey Dee and Henry Glover, recorded and released by Joey Dee and the Starliters in 1961. Capitalizing on the Twist dance craze and the nightclub in which Dee performed ("The Peppermint Lounge"), the song ...

", he is best known for his association with

during the 1960s. The other members of the Rascals were

Eddie Brigati Edward Brigati Jr. (born October 22, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter. He was the co-lead vocalist, along with Felix Cavaliere, and percussionist in the rock group The Young Rascals from 1964 to 1970. Prior to his stint with The Young ...

Dino Danelli Dino Danelli (July 23, 1944 – December 15, 2022) was an American drummer. Danelli was best known as an original member and the drummer in the rock group The Young Rascals. He has been called "one of the great unappreciated rock drummers in his ...

and

Gene Cornish Gene Cornish (born May 14, 1944) is a Canadian-American guitarist and harmonica player. He is an original member of the popular 1960s blue-eyed soul band The Young Rascals. From 1965 to 1970, the band recorded eight albums and had thirteen si ...

. Cavaliere sang vocals on six of their successful singles and played the

Hammond B-3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

Early life and education

Cavaliere was born to an Italian American family in Pelham,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

on November 29, 1942. At an early age, he studied piano at the Allaire School of Music at his mother's behest from age 6 until her death when he was 14. He enrolled at Syracuse University in the early 1960s as a

pre-med Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med course ...

major and performed at fraternity and sorority parties with his band ''The Escorts''. At the beginning of his junior year, he left Syracuse to pursue an opportunity to be a musician at a

Borscht Belt The Borscht Belt, or Jewish Alps, is a colloquial term for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in parts of Sullivan, Orange, and Ulster counties in the U.S. state of New York, straddling both Upstate New York and the nort ...

resort in the

Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...

. He was friends with poet and songwriter

Stephen Kalinich Stephen John Kalinich ( ; born 1942) is an American poet mostly known for his songwriting collaborations with Brian and Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. In 1969, he recorded his only album, '' A World of Peace Must Come'', with production by Bri ...

, and they both were in the

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College (now the University of Richmond), and its national headquarte ...

fraternity.

Career

He joined The Stereos, and moved on to form The Escorts, while attending Syracuse. He later produced albums by other artists such as

Laura Nyro Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968 ...

and

Jimmie Spheeris Jimmie Spheeris (November 5, 1949 – July 4, 1984) was an American singer-songwriter who released four albums in the 1970s on the Columbia Records and Epic Records labels. Spheeris died in 1984, at the age of 34, after a motorcycle accident. B ...

. Following a pair of solo efforts, Cavaliere recorded under the band name Treasure and released a self-titled AOR-styled album in 1977 which featured future

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

member

Vinnie Vincent Vincent John Cusano (born August 6, 1952), better known by his stage name Vinnie Vincent, is an American guitarist. He is a former member of the rock band Kiss from 1982 until mid-1984 during the band's transition out of their 1973–1983 make ...

on guitar. Cavaliere had a solo

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

with " Only a Lonely Heart Sees" (1980), which reached No. 36 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and No. 2 on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart. Cavaliere and former Rascals bandmate

joined Steve Van Zandt to record Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul's album, '' Men Without Women'' (1982). However, Cavaliere strongly disputes this and claims that he was never a member of Little Steven's band. He recorded ''Dreams in Motion'' in 1994, produced by

Don Was Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was, is an American musician, record producer and record executive. Primarily a bass player, Was co-founded the funk-rock band Was (Not Was). In later years he produced so ...

. During 1995, Cavaliere was a touring member of

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

's third All-Starr Band. Cavaliere can be seen playing keyboard in the official video for "Hey Girl" by

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since th ...

, a cover version of the

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

song, recorded by Billy Joel in 1997 to add to his ''Greatest Hits Volume III'' compilation. The track was released as a single, but Cavaliere was not playing on the recording. On October 15, 2006, he inducted

Vanilla Fudge Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band known predominantly for their slow extended heavy rock arrangements of contemporary hit songs, such as their hit cover of The Supremes' " You Keep Me Hangin' On". The band's original line–up—vocalist ...

into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. In 2008, he recorded an album with

Steve Cropper Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as ...

, ''Nudge it Up a Notch'', which was released July 29, 2008. He continues to tour as Felix Cavaliere's Rascals. On April 24, 2010, all four members of the Rascals reunited for the Kristen Ann Carr benefit, which was held at New York's Tribeca Grill. Cavaliere reunited with his bandmates when the Rascals appeared at the Capitol Theater in

Port Chester, New York Port Chester is a village in the U.S. state of New York and the largest part of the town of Rye in Westchester County by population. At the 2010 U.S. census, the village of Port Chester had a population of 28,967 and was the fifth-most po ...

for six shows in December 2012 and for fifteen dates at the

Richard Rodgers Theatre The Richard Rodgers Theatre (formerly Chanin's 46th Street Theatre and the 46th Street Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 226 West 46th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1925, it was designed by Her ...

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

(April 15 – May 5, 2013). Their current production, entitled "Once Upon A Dream", is currently touring North America (Toronto, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago, Detroit, Rochester, and New York City). It is produced by long-time Rascals' fans

Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandoli ...

and his wife Maureen. He appeared with Billy Joel at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylv ...

on May 28, 2015. In 2017 and 2018, Cavaliere was a

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

in a television

infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...

for the

Time Life Time Life, with sister subsidiaries StarVista Live and Lifestyle Products Group, a holding of Direct Holdings Global LLC, is an American production company and direct marketer conglomerate, that is known for selling books, music, video/DVD, ...

''The 60s Music'' CD collection.

Awards and honors

In 1993, Cavaliere was inducted into the Syracuse Area Music Awards Hall of Fame. In 1997, Cavaliere was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the (Young) Rascals. On June 18, 2009, Cavaliere, along with former writing partner

, was inducted into the

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...

for having ''"changed the direction of pop music in 1965"''. In 2014, he was inducted into the Hammond Hall of Fame. Cavaliere was inducted into the

Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum (MHOF) in Nashville honors all musicians regardless of genre or instrument. The MHOF timeline starts with the beginning of recorded music and inductees are nominated by current members of the American Feder ...

in 2019.

Personal life

Cavaliere was married to Mary Theresa (Thompson) Cavaliere for around 30 years and had three daughters with her. Cavaliere's daughter, Aria Cavaliere, is a singer based in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. He also has four grandchildren. He lives in Nashville, with his current wife Donna Lewis.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

*
The Rascals Appreciation Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavaliere, Felix 1942 births Living people American male pop singers American male singer-songwriters American rock keyboardists American male organists Record producers from New York (state) American rock singers American soft rock musicians American people of Italian descent Singer-songwriters from New York (state) The Rascals members People from Pelham, New York Syracuse University alumni American soul singers 21st-century organists 21st-century American male musicians 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American keyboardists Bearsville Records artists Epic Records artists Stax Records artists MCA Records artists Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band members