Dennis Frederiksen

American rock singer (1951–2014)

Dennis Hardy "Fergie" Frederiksen (May 15, 1951 – January 18, 2014) was an American rock singer best known as the former lead singer of Trillion, Angel, LeRoux and Toto, as well as providing backing vocals for Survivor. He contributed to hit singles in three consecutive years, all with different bands: Survivor's "American Heartbeat" in 1982, LeRoux's "Carrie's Gone" in 1983 and Toto's "Stranger in Town" in 1984.

Frederiksen started his musical career at the age of 13, and he played clubs and pubs at the age of 15 with a group called the Common People in Grand Rapids, MI. In 1975, while he was still attending college at Central Michigan, Frederiksen was asked by his friend Tommy Shaw to replace him as the lead vocalist for the band MSFunk, as Shaw was leaving to join Styx. Frederiksen was with MSFunk for a year before disbanding in 1976. While living in Chicago, he helped form a local progressive rock band called Trillion with keyboardist Patrick Leonard. as well as a more AOR style solo album in 1981, with his friend Mark Christian as the lead guitarist. This would turn out to be one of the last albums released by Casablanca Records, as the fall of disco in the early 1980s forced the label to fold, eventually becoming part of Polygram Records. He would drop the stage name soon after, officially going by his childhood nickname "Fergie", which stemmed from his grade school classmates once incorrectly thinking his last name was "Ferguson". However, Kansas manager Budd Carr spotted Fergie during auditions and began working with him soon after, which ultimately would prove instrumental for Frederiksen's career. It was around this time that long time friends Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan from Survivor invited Frederiksen to their studio during the recording of their third album, while lead singer Dave Bickler was experiencing vocal cord strain. Ultimately, Bickler was able to finish the album, and Frederiksen assisted with background vocals. The band's third album Eye of the Tiger was released in May 1982, with Frederiksen credited simply as "Fergie". It jumped to number 2 on the Billboard charts, and eventually went 2× Platinum on the strength of its #1 title track. Frederiksen provided harmonies on five tracks, including the album's second single, "American Heartbeat", which charted in the top 20. In late summer of 1982, Frederiksen and Asia (not the hit making British supergroup) guitarist Jim Odom were both recruited by manager Budd Carr, was released in February 1983. It included the hit song "Carrie's Gone", which Frederiksen wrote shortly after breaking up with then girlfriend Carrie Hamilton (Carol Burnett's daughter). The band was dropped from RCA Records, broke up, but reformed in 1985 with a new singer and are still together and touring. They were recently inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Meanwhile, Frederiksen reunited with Ricky Phillips to start a brand new band called Abandon Shame, featuring Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain, and his wife Tane. The quartet worked on 5 songs in 1984, with Fergie only singing on one of the tracks. The Kevin Elson produced "You Can't Do That", "Burnin' in the Third Degree", and "Photoplay" appeared in the soundtrack to The Terminator, and were credited to Tahnee Cain and Trianglz. While "Kicks" and "Over Night Sensation" would eventually appear in the 1985 film Armed Response, with Tane and Fergie singing the leads respectively. Phillips, who was friends with Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro, gave him a Frederiksen demo. Toto, who had fired lead singer Bobby Kimball in the midst of recording their fifth album Isolation, invited Frederiksen to come audition for his spot. After edging out Eric Martin, he got the job, and the band finished recording Isolation, which was released in October 1984. It included the hit song "Stranger in Town" and went Gold. The music video for "Stranger in Town", which featured Fergie as the murder victim, was nominated at the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Direction. After touring with Toto through 1985, Frederiksen was fired from the band during the initial recording sessions for Fahrenheit, mainly due to his difficulties with performing in the studio.

Following his expulsion from Toto, Frederiksen took to touring as "Toto", using a setlist which included many Toto songs that predated his time with the band. This angered the band, who had already taken out an injunction against Frederiksen's predecessor, Bobby Kimball, to stop him from doing the same thing. He later explained, "I tried to do without [music] but I was miserable." The album was critically acclaimed in Europe and Japan. He had been suffering from Hepatitis C and presented a few fundraisers to raise awareness of the disease. He died from liver cancer on January 18, 2014, at his home in Mound, Minnesota. He is survived by his three sons.