Tommy DeCarlo — lead vocalist for Boston — died on Monday (March 9) from brain cancer in Charlotte, N.C. He was 60.
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The singer’s family confirmed the news in a Facebook post. “After being diagnosed with brain cancer last September, he fought with incredible strength and courage right up until the very end,” they wrote.
DeCarlo was born on April 23, 1965, in Utica, N.Y. He discovered and became a fan of Boston in 1977, when he was 12. The band had debuted in 1976 with the Epic album Boston, which rose to No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and remained on the chart for 138 weeks. The band’s next two albums, Don’t Look Back (1978), also on Epic, and Third Stage (1986), on MCA, both reached No. 1.
In the 1990s, DeCarlo began recording cover versions of his favorite Boston songs. In March 2007, original Boston lead singer Brad Delp died by suicide at age 55. DeCarlo wrote and recorded an original song about Delp and recorded a couple of Boston covers. His daughter suggested he post the songs on a MySpace page. DeCarlo sent a link to his MySpace page to Boston management. Not long after, he was contacted by Boston founding member Tom Scholz, who invited him to audition for the band. DeCarlo was the lead vocalist (or colead vocalist) for every subsequent touring lineup of Boston.
In 2013, Boston’s album Life Love & Hope reached No. 37 on the Billboard 200. DeCarlo sang lead vocals on the title track, “Someday,” “You Gave Up on Love (2.0)” and “The Way You Look Tonight.”
DeCarlo formed the band DECARLO with his son Tommy DeCarlo Jr. in 2012. The band signed a deal with Frontier Records Srl and released an album, Lightning Strikes Twice, in January 2020.
In November 2021, DeCarlo recorded and released the audiobook, Unlikely Rockstar – The Tommy DeCarlo Story.
In 2022, DeCarlo signed a solo record deal with Frontier Records for Dancing in the Moonlight, which was released in December 2022.)
