Donnie Iris, longtime fixture of Pittsburgh area music scene, dies at 83
He only reached the Top 10 once, but to at least a couple of generations of Pittsburghers he was a legend and eternally “King Cool.”
Donnie Iris, a longtime fixture of the Pittsburgh area music scene who became a beloved elder statesman with a large and devoted local following, died Monday. He was 83. Iris had been battling cancer since 2023. His death came a little more than two weeks after he announced he was retiring from live performance, and a little less than a month after his final show, when he was the first act to play at Citizens Live at the Wylie in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor called Iris “a true Pittsburgh icon,” adding “Donnie Iris was more than a local legend – he was part of the soundtrack of our city.” One of O’Connor’s predecessors, Bill Peduto, posted on social media that “Donnie Iris represented everything that was good about being a Pittsburgher. He was a special man – talented, kind, welcoming and down to earth. He will forever be part of Pittsburgh.”
Iris’s greatest national success came in 1970. As a member of the Jaggerz, he wrote the hit “The Rapper,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March of that year. It was blocked from the top spot by Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” A decade later, he broke through nationally with three minor hits – “Ah! Leah,” “My Girl” and “Love Is Like A Rock,” that were particular favorites on rock radio stations in the Midwest. Though Iris’s time as a national act was fairly brief, he became a mainstay of the Pittsburgh music scene, playing regularly at festivals, fairs, clubs, casinos and other venues with his band, the Cruisers.
Iris was also frequently booked in Ohio, and he told Cleveland’s Scene magazine in 1998, “I’ve loved (music) since I was a kid. There is always something out there new that comes along that keeps me interested and fascinated with music. It’s just a love I’ve had since I can remember.”
Born in New Castle on Feb. 28, 1943, Iris came into the world as Dominic Ierace and was raised in Ellwood City. When he was a boy, Iris later recounted, he would sing along to his mother’s Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra records. He later became one of the many teenagers who were inspired to form bands and perform following the examples set by Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly. Iris fronted a band and later joined a group called the Jaggers.
By 1968, the Jaggers signed to a major label and became the Jaggerz. On social media, fellow Pittsburgh rocker Joe Grushecky remembered seeing the Jaggerz perform at PennWest University’s California campus when it was called California State College. He described it as “a religious experience.”
“Donnie was the prototype, the guy who was able to sustain his talent and artistry for longer than any of us could imagine,” Grushecky wrote.
The Jaggerz turned out to be a one-hit wonder, and as the 1970s progressed, Iris worked as a recording engineer and was briefly in the band Wild Cherry two years after its sole hit, “Play That Funky Music.” All told, he released five albums as a solo act between 1980 and 1985, with 1980’s “Back on the Streets” being the biggest seller, peaking at No. 57 on Billboard’s album chart.
After his time as a national act ended, Iris continued to release albums independently and started a mortgage company in Aliquippa. One of those albums, 2006’s “Ellwood City,” was a tribute to his hometown.
Last year, before an appearance in Columbus, Ohio, Iris told the website Broadway World that he never thought he’d continue rocking when he was in his 80s.
“Hell no, man. No way,” he said. “We just keep playing. As a group, we keep getting these gigs and we take them on because we are not ready to quit.”
Iris continued, “The age thing doesn’t matter if you can still sing and perform. If you can do that and people still show up to hear you, there’s nothing holding you back.”