Q&A: Donnie Iris on The Jaggerz, his favorite drink, ‘Ah! Leah!’ reaction videos and more
It’s been a year since Donnie Iris stepped on stage and rocked his fans, and not a great year it was. The legend from Ellwood City learned just after his 80th birthday bash at UPMC Events Center in March 2023 that he had bladder cancer.
He and his band The Cruisers were forced to cancel shows for the rest of the year, including dates with Foreigner and REO Speedwagon while he underwent treatment.
The good news is that Iris is cancer free now and has been given the green light to get back on stage, which he will do at UPMC Events Center on Saturday with The Clarks and The Vindys.
Last week, he talked to the PostGazette about what it was like to find out he had cancer and what the past year was like.
Here is more from that interview:
So, this is the 60th anniversary of you forming The Jaggerz.
Geez, really? 60 years?
Yeah, it says you formed The Jaggerz in 1964.
Yeah, yeah. That’s right, yeah. Oh my god, a long time.
The Beatles were on “Ed Sullivan” that February. Do you remember when you formed the band?
It was after that. Maybe. I don’t know. It’s a little confusing because I went to Slippery Rock for a couple years, like ’62, ’63. And that’s when I quit to join The Jaggerz. That would have been like ’64.
What were your influences at that time?
It was mostly influenced by R&B stuff, like Ray Charles. Let’s see, who else? I would say, of course, the Beatles when they came along, they did everything. We were basically the same type of group, you know, a group that played and sang together. But people like Ray Charles, I remember listening to in my first year of college.
Are you still in touch with The Jaggerz?
Yeah, Jimmie [Ross] still has the group together. I’m not real sure about Benny Faiella. I don’t know if he’s still playing with them or not. [He is.] Jimmie and l have a conversation once in a while. He’s a good dude, man.
So, how were you passing the time while you were sick?
I was at my daughter’s house in Beaver Falls and she took care of me during all that time. Let’s see, I‘m trying to think of some of the things I was doing while I was having my treatments. I was going out once in a while.
Did you like watch all of Netflix?
No, didn’t watch much TV. I went out as much as I could, was with some of my friends and stuff like that, but, no, I didn’t do much TV.
Were you reading books?
No, I fall asleep when I read, so I really don’t. I try to go out as much as possible. Hang out with my friends. And smoke cigars and have a few drinks.
Did they say you can still drink and smoke cigars?
Yeah, the doctor actually said that. I mean, a lot of people think that cigar smoking is bad for you, just like your lungs and everything. But with a cigar, you’re just blowing smoke and even though it’s not good for you, it’s better than cigarettes. But, yeah, she said, ‘Go ahead, have a cigar once in a while. Don’t worry about it.’
What is your drink?
Jack Daniels on the rocks. Every once in a while I have a beer, a Miller Lite.
So, at UPMC, will you play a whole two-hour show?
Yeah, well, first of all, we have The Vindys there and The Clarks, and then we go on and I think we’re gonna do almost two hours, but there’s gonna be things going on in between. It’s not all music. There’s other stuff going on during the show, and then at the end we’re all gonna get together and jam.
Did you miss being on stage?
Oh, yeah, of course. I missed it, but at the same time I was just trying to get better. It was one of those things where I thought, ‘Well, maybe. Maybe someday I’ll come back to it’ and, sure enough, we’re able to.
Last week, I saw a new reaction video to “Ah! Leah!” on YouTube. Have you seen those? Young kids really love the song.
I’ve saw one of those and, yeah, they’re really into it. I guess they react to it like it’s for the first time and, yeah, it’s really cool, really cool stuff.
Did you have any idea that song would hold up like that?
Oh my god, no, I had no idea. When we did the recording of it, we thought we had something that was pretty good, but we had no idea the way it exploded. But, uh, yeah, it’s just one of those things, you know, if something good really happens with the record and that one certainly did, man. It’s fun to watch young kids getting into it.
They comment on the band’s vocal harmonies and I’m talking to the TV like, “That’s all Donnie.”
[Laughs] Yeah, we did what we called stacking and we stacked one vocal on top of the other for ... I don’t know how many times. But, yeah, we worked on it for a long time.
What is the deal with the unreleased album, or most of an album, that the Cruisers have?
I have some stuff that we left that I don’t think we’re gonna even work on. I mean, it’s been so long since we’ve done a record. Maybe someday we’ll go in and take a look at the stuff we did, but we’re not even thinking about that right now.
Donnie Iris and the Cruisers play UPMC Events Center with The Clarks and The Vindys at 7 p.m. March 16. Tickets start at $38.95; upmceventscenter.com.