Donnie Iris has earned a reputation as an inexhaustible ball of energy, tearing through guitar licks, unleashing screams and bounding across the stage during concerts.
Decades of touring and gigging haven’t slowed down the 82-year-old frontman. Neither has a battle with bladder cancer.
Diagnosed in 2023, Iris underwent surgery and was cancer free. But he’s been receiving chemotherapy every few weeks or longer because “the doctor wants me to be conservative and wants to make sure everything is fine,” he said.
“It’s not bad at all,” Iris said of the treatment. “I feel great, I really do. I’ve never gotten sick from it. I’ve never had any problems from it. I’ve tolerated it. I feel great (after chemotherapy) − a little tired but I feel pretty good.
“No grass is going to grow under my feet,” he said with a burst of laughter. “The doctor said just keep doing what you’re doing. He’ll take care of me. I have a great doctor out of Pittsburgh. He’s been to a couple of my shows, and he just had a ball at both of them.”
Iris will bring his love for life and music to Canton Palace Theatre on Nov. 8. And he’ll get a boost from two Canton area friends and fellow musicians − Joe Vitale Sr. and Joe Vitale Jr.
“To be part of it is absolutely an honor,” the younger Vitale said. “If you want to see real rock ‘n’ roll and also experience a great rock show by guys who are still out there playing, absolutely come to this show.”
Also joining Iris will be longtime bandmate and guitarist Marty Lee Hoenes, who has lived in North Canton for roughly 30 years. The band also includes keyboardist Mark Avsec and bassist Paul Goll.
Tickets, $38 to $74, can be purchased at cantonpalacetheatre.org.
Presented by Western Reserve Folk Arts, this will be the first Stark County show for Donnie Iris & The Cruisers since they opened for Journey in 2022 at the Concert for Legends at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium during the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival.
“It’s just really cool,” Iris said with characteristic pep in his voice. “With (the Vitales) in the band now, it offers me some time between songs to relax a little. They take over and do some things. I do some things with Joe Sr., a song called ‘Knock On Wood,’ which is a lot of fun.
“I just have fun up there. I’m having more fun than I’ve had in my whole life.”
Fans also motivate him to step on stage.
“It really is what keeps me going,” the Pittsburgh area native said. “Without them, it would be nothing, really. They are my inspiration, they really are. I’m just so thrilled they keep coming out and keep having a good time.”
Going to the Bahamas for an ’80s cruise
Ohio and Pennsylvania have been the rock ‘n’ roll bread and butter for Iris and his band, where they play around 10 shows a year, including venues in Northeast Ohio such as The Kent Stage and MGM Northfield Park.
But Iris and the group will take a major detour when they perform in March at Nassau Amphitheatre in The Bahamas as a stop on “The 80s Cruise,” featuring Billy Ocean, Berlin, Bret Michaels, Nile Rogers & Chic, Taylor Dane, Sugarhill Gang, Gary Numan, Quiet Riot, Glass Tiger, Rob Base, Men Without Hats, and former MTV hosts Mark Goodman and Alan Hunter, as well as other musical artists.
“I’ve never done anything like that before,” Iris said. “This is a first for us. I’m looking forward to that show.”
Asked why ’80s music is still beloved by so many people, Iris admitted he doesn’t fully know the answer.
“It’s something people will remember forever,” he said. “I go up to a place called Jergel’s (in the Pittsburgh area). It’s a bar and music venue and almost all the cover bands that are there are doing ’80s music. I remember one group got up there and did, ‘Ah! Leah!’ (by Iris) and they blew me away. They were so good. They sounded great.
“I met with them afterwards at the cigar bar, and we took pictures and had some fun and talked a while,” he said of the cover band. “It was great.”
Hoenes said the ’80s were musically diverse.
“From my perspective, and I could be wrong about this, but it seems like the ’80s, unlike the ’70s maybe … did have this really eclectic blend of things,” he said.
“We toured with Hall & Oates, which is one style of music, but we also toured with UFO and Nazareth, both heavy metal bands, and Ted Nugent,” Hoenes said. “Those are heavy, straight down the middle rock bands.”
The emergence of MTV as a platform for popular music also was a hallmark of the ’80s.
“We were on MTV a lot when it got started because they had launched this channel … but they really didn’t have the content because it hadn’t been created yet,” Hoenes recounted.
“And we recorded (Blossom Music Center) shows,” he continued. “And we brought a big recording truck (and) … it was all done up, and we had all these videos, and then when MTV launched, they needed content and we had it. We were ahead of the curve just by sheer chance, so they would put us on a lot because they needed content and we had some. Lucky for us, we got exposed on MTV with all the videos.”
Love is like a rock
Among the ’80s anthems still in heavy classic rock rotation is “Love Is Like a Rock,” which Iris and Avsec co-wrote.
“It’s about how you can’t depend on anything else,” Iris said of the song’s meaning. “Doctors and lawyers and everybody. The only thing you can really depend on is love. You can’t depend on anything else, you just can’t.”
“It all started in the studio with just a jam,” he recalled. “We were just messing around with different things and Marty came up with the lick … and we just kept going, plugging away with it, and sure enough, we came up with the song. It was one of those things that just happened to work out. You just never know what’s going to hit.”
“I hope that will be a legacy song,” said Iris, who lives in the Pittsburgh area. “I just hope it lives on forever far beyond my days, and it’s something that I think about all the time. Not that I’m preparing for death or anything. Yeah, I’m going to keep going as long as I can, and hopefully (the song) will live on forever.”
“Ah! Leah!” is another timeless song, said Hoenes, a bandmate of Iris’ for roughly 45 years. Iris and Avsec collaborated on that hit, too.
“It’s fairly common to meet somebody who comes up and says, ‘My name is Leah and I was named after ‘Ah! Leah!,” Hoenes said. “They say, ‘My parents just loved that song,’ and I wanted to say hi. That happens quite often.”
Hoenes gave a big laugh: “There’s quite a few Leahs out there.”
Donnie Iris inspires fans
Hoenes still marvels at his friend’s vigor on stage, especially in light of cancer.
“Donnie loves playing, and I think it energizes a person,” he said. “Doing something that you really love doing, somehow that just energizes you, and you’re connected to the thing that makes you happy.”
“Fans are obviously supportive and see what he’s doing up there,” Hoenes said. “And they know what he’s overcoming to be up there, and I feel as though they see that. I think they see that the way he performs and the way all this matters to him, and I think they’re inspired by that, whether they’ve been touched by cancer or not, but who hasn’t.”
“So there’s this unexpected reaction. That’s a really beautiful thing to see.”
Vitale Jr. agreed.
“The show itself is absolutely incredible,” the 48-year-old musician said. “(Iris) is a cancer survivor. He has bounced back; he’s like at full power. The guy is absolutely incredible.
“I’m amazed at his resiliency. He’s absolutely back. He’s still just as strong. Donnie at his age still belts out ‘Ah! Leah!’ like it was 1980. The whole band is awesome.”
The Vitale connection
Old school rock ‘n’ roll brethren include Canton native Vitale Sr.
Vitale, 76, has classic rock chops galore, serving as a touring drummer for the Eagles in the late ’70s and performing or working with a host of rock stars, including Crosby, Stills & Nash, Peter Frampton, Joe Walsh, Ted Nugent, Dan Fogelberg, Ronnie Wood and Boz Scaggs.
Vitale and Walsh co-wrote the hit song “Rocky Mountain Way,” as well as “Pretty Maids All in a Row” on the Eagles’ iconic album, “Hotel California.”
“Rocky Mountain Way,” performed with Vitale Jr. on guitar and vocals and Vitale Sr. on drums, will be on the Nov. 8 setlist at the Palace Theatre.
Vitale Sr. said he’s proud to help Iris keep the rock ‘n’ roll torch burning.
“We appreciate the idea that we’re still able to do it because it’s such a passion to do this,” he said. “You never give up. Sometimes you have to let it go if your health is bad or if you’ve gotten to the point where your performance is suffering.”
“Look at Paul McCartney and look at the Eagles. They certainly don’t need the money. They don’t have to ever perform again. It’s got nothing to do with the money or fame or any of that. It’s a deep passion. From the first time we played on a stage and people smiled and clapped, it’s a passion that’s undeniable. I guess that never leaves. In a matter of fact, it gets even deeper.”
Although the senior Vitale has worked with a slew of rock music legends, it wasn’t until recent years that he got to know Iris.
“Until I started playing with Donnie, I had forgotten how many hits he had,” he said. “He’s had a lot of great songs, and he’s such a good singer. And he’s one of the nicest guys in rock ‘n’ roll.”
Vitale met Iris through his son, who was already guest drumming for the band. That led to the elder Vitale joining Donnie Iris & The Cruisers for some shows.
Drumming side by side on select songs gives the concerts extra oomph and adds another element, Vitale Jr. said.
“It adds a lot of energy to a show,” he said. “It just adds this layer of hugeness to the drums live.”
And it’s a thrill for the elder Vitale.
“We’re having a ball,” he said. “And I’m the proud daddy looking over at my son and he’s really kicking butt. He’s playing great. It really goes over well.”
Reach Ed at ebalint@gannett.com. Follow on Instagram at ed_balint and TikTok @edwardbalint.
If you go
Who: Donnie Iris & The Cruisers with Joe Vitalie Sr. and Joe Vitale Jr. Beauty & The Beat will open.
When: 7 p.m. Nov. 8
Where: Canton Palace Theatre, 605 Market Ave. N in downtown Canton
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased at https://www.cantonpalacetheatre.org. The Palace Theatre box office can be reached at 330-454-8172.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Donnie Iris overcomes cancer, keeps rocking with Joe Vitale Sr. and Canton-area musicians
Reporting by Ed Balint, Canton Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
