‘The Smithereens’ Lead Singer Pat DiNizio Passes Away at 62

‘The Smithereens’ Lead Singer Pat DiNizio Passes Away at 62
Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens sings during the USA Tennis Rock & Rally at Rockefeller Center in New York City on April 28, 2003. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Epoch Newsroom
12/13/2017
Updated:
12/13/2017
Pat DiNizio, the lead singer of New Jersey rock band The Smithereens, has died at the age of 62, The Associated Press reported on Wednesday, Dec. 13.
The Smithereens announced his passing on its Facebook page, saying he died Tuesday. The cause of death was not revealed.

Band members wrote that their “journey with Pat was long, storied and a hell of a lot of fun.”

“Today we mourn the loss of our friend, brother and bandmate Pat DiNizio,” said DiNizio’s fellow Smithereens bandmates Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken, and Mike Mesaros, in the Facebook post.

They had a string of hits like “A Girl Like You” and “Behind The Wall Of Sleep” to “Only a Memory,” and “Blood and Roses.”

“Pat had the magic touch,” DiNizio’s bandmates wrote. “He channeled the essence of joy and heartbreak into hook-laden three minute pop songs, infused with a lifelong passion for rock & roll.”

They were founded in Carteret, New Jersey in 1980, before releasing their first album, “Especially for You,” in 1986.

“We all happened to love the same music and also as importantly be fans of the same pop culture things,” DiNizio told SugarBuzz Magazine about a decade ago, according to AP. “We grew up watching Soupy Sales, Chuck McCann and The Monkees. We all grew up reading Mad Magazine and there was a shared background. So we agreed upon all of that.”

Their song “Blood and Roses” was featured in the movie “Dangerously Close,” and it received heavy airplay on MTV.

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