Felix Cavaliere

American musician

Felix Cavaliere (born November 29, 1942) is an American musician and singer songwriter. He is best known for being the co lead vocalist and keyboard player for The Young Rascals. Although he was a member of Joey Dee and the Starliters, known for their hit "Peppermint Twist", he is best known for his association with the Young Rascals during the 1960s. The other members of the Rascals were Eddie Brigati, Dino Danelli and Gene Cornish. Cavaliere sang vocals on six of their successful singles and played the Hammond B 3 organ.

Cavaliere was born to an Italian American family in Pelham, New York on November 29, 1942. At an early age, he studied piano at the Allaire School of Music At the beginning of his junior year, he left Syracuse to pursue an opportunity to be a musician at a Borscht Belt resort in the Catskills. He was friends with poet and songwriter Stephen Kalinich, and they both were in the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.

He joined The Stereos, and moved on to form The Escorts, while attending Syracuse. He later produced albums by other artists such as Laura Nyro and Jimmie Spheeris. Between 1965 and 1972, Cavaliere played keyboards and sang for The Young Rascals and The Rascals. They achieved three US #1 hits. Following a pair of solo efforts, Cavaliere recorded under the band name Treasure and released a self titled AOR styled album in 1977 which featured future Kiss member Vinnie Vincent on guitar. Cavaliere had a solo hit with "Only a Lonely Heart Sees" (1980), which reached No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 2 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Cavaliere and former Rascals bandmate Dino Danelli joined Steve Van Zandt to record Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul's album, Men Without Women (1982). However, Cavaliere strongly disputes this and claims that he was never a member of Little Steven's band. He recorded Dreams in Motion in 1994, produced by Don Was. During 1995, Cavaliere was a touring member of Ringo Starr's third All Starr Band. Cavaliere can be seen playing keyboard in the official video for "Hey Girl" by Billy Joel, a cover version of the Carole King song, recorded by Billy Joel in 1997 to add to his Greatest Hits Volume III compilation. The track was released as a single, but Cavaliere was not playing on the recording. On October 15, 2006, he inducted Vanilla Fudge into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. In 2008, he recorded an album with Steve Cropper, Nudge it Up a Notch, which was released July 29, 2008. He continues to tour as Felix Cavaliere's Rascals. In 2014, he was inducted into the Hammond Hall of Fame. Cavaliere was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2019.

Cavaliere was married to Mary Theresa (Thompson) Cavaliere for 30 years and had three daughters with her. Cavaliere's daughter, Aria Cavaliere, is a singer based in Nashville, Tennessee. He also has four grandchildren. He lives in Nashville, with his current wife Donna Lewis.