During an appearance on yesterday’s edition of SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk”, Frankie Banali‘s wife Regina spoke about plans for his memorial service. The QUIET RIOT drummer died on Thursday (August 20) after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
“Funnily enough, he had already bought and paid for and planned his entire services at Forest Lawn [cemetery in Los Angeles] before his [cancer] diagnosis,” Regina said. “But I don’t know how we’re gonna do that now with COVID. He was gonna get the same kind of funeral that Ronnie [James Dio] got and Jimmy Bain and all those funerals that we’ve been to many times.”
“He was saying we’re gonna rent the [legendary West Hollywood restaurant and bar] Rainbow and have laminated passes and [have a] send-off in the rock and roll way that he arrived in L.A.,” she continued. “He had a lot of history with the Rainbow. But I don’t know how we’ll do it, or when.”
According to Regina, there will likely be a large-scale memorial event in Frankie‘s honor once the coronavirus pandemic has subsided.
“I think it’s better to go big, even if it’s later,” she explained. “‘Cause I think people will still care. And I think he deserves the honor and recognition that he’s earned.”
Regina, who wrote and directed the QUIET RIOT documentary “Well Now You’re Here, There’s No Way Back: The Quiet Riot Movie”, confirmed that Frankie had put tentative plans in place to keep the QUIET RIOT legacy alive even after his death. However, she said, “I feel like it is too soon to talk about [that]. The plans are in my hands. But still, even that is not really a solid plan. Everything is so in flux, with COVID and everything, it’s just so soon that I can’t even really promise anything.”
Frankie was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer on April 17, 2019 and given six months to live. He put up an inspiringly brave and courageous 16-month battle to the end and continued playing live as long as he could. Standard chemotherapy stopped working and a series of strokes made the continuation on a clinical trial impossible. He ultimately lost the fight at 7:18 p.m. on August 20 in Los Angeles surrounded by his wife and daughter.
Banali was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer after going to the emergency room for shortness of breath, leg pain and loss of energy. A scan of his lungs caught an image of his liver, which is where the first spots were seen. Then came the discovery of a tumor on his pancreas.
He had been in treatment since the spring of last year and recently completed his 21st round of chemotherapy with the hopes of shrinking or controlling the cancer.
Banali‘s history with QUIET RIOT spanned over 37 years and he had the distinction of being the only member of the band to have recorded on every single QUIET RIOT release from 1983’s “Metal Health”, which was the first heavy metal album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard chart, through 2019’s “Hollywood Cowboys”. He also recorded seven albums with W.A.S.P. between 1989 and 2004.
Banali resurrected QUIET RIOT in 2010, three years after the death of singer and founding member Kevin DuBrow.
QUIET RIOT‘s latest studio album, “Hollywood Cowboys” was released in November via Frontiers Music Srl.
