Posted on 10/26/2026 4:36:47 PM PDT by ShadowAce
There aren’t many Pittsburgh legends known with just one name. Say “Donnie” or, rather, “Dahnie,” in these parts and everyone knows exactly who you’re talking about.
Donnie Iris has been a legend in Western Pennsylvania going all the way back to the late ‘60s as a member of The Jaggerz.
Iris, whose soaring vocals powered the hits “Ah! Leah!,” “Love Is Like a Rock” and “My Girl,” died Monday, according to friends and bandmates, after battling bladder cancer for three years. He was 83.
“For my money, he was the most beloved Pittsburgh musician of all time,” his colleague Joe Grushecky, said. “I don’t know anyone who was loved more than Donnie. He just had that warmth about him, and it came through in his performance.”
Born Dominic Ierace in New Castle and raised in Ellwood City, Iris grew up on a steady diet of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Elvis Presley and, eventually, the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Motown.
His mother, who played piano in church, introduced him to singing at an early age.
“I started off really young,” he recalled in a 2018 interview. “I was only like 6 or 7 years old. My mother taught me how to sing when I was real little. We had a piano in the house, and she wanted me to sing. I probably would have rather gone out to play with the kids, but she wanted me to sing.”
He began his musical pursuits in high school, around 1961, with the doo-wop group the Fabutons. At Slippery Rock State College (now Slippery Rock University), he returned to the guitar and began playing rock 'n' roll and R&B covers with the Tri-Vels and Donnie and the Donnells.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
Oh no!! As a kid in Pittsburgh in the 70s, Iris was a hero. A classic rocker in the days of disco. One of his songs, “Ah Leah,” was among Rush Limbaugh’s favorite bumper songs.
RIP, Donnie Iris.
Great song.
One of those songs that grab your emotions and make you dream.
Thanks Iris.
I think he was married to the same woman for a long time too
Wasn’t he also the lead singer of Wild Cherry for a while? He had his disco era.
Wasn’t he also the lead singer of Wild Cherry for a while? He had his disco era.
I always thought he was saying “in the army”
“Rock Legend?” You would have thought I would have at least heard of him.
Rap-a-rap-a-rap, they call him the rapper.
RIP
Played Ah Leah one stage many times with different bands over the years… It was always a crowd pleaser.
RIP Donnie…
Donnie Iris: Love Is Like A Rock | 3:42
Chris Lockner | 12.4K subscribers | 805,226 views | June 8, 2010
"Ah Leah" - Donnie Iris
Do you know she is that woman that ended up getting murdered by the Spector guy, the music/movie producer ?
It was a yuuuge trial. Phil Spector was convicted of 2nd degree murder and died in 2021.
She was only 40 when shot.
At University of Southern California home football games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the game announcer would read out the scores of games across the country. The very last score that he read was the one from Slippery Rock. Even if Slippery Rock won, he would read it last, for example, "Notre Dame 3, Slippery Rock 48." Fans were always waiting for the Slippery Rock score.
In 1983 I attended a performance at El Camino College in Hawthorne, Calif. that included several musicians from Phil Spector’s diskeries, including his ex-wife Veronica, lead singer of the Ronettes. Martha Reeves of Martha & the Vandellas also performed and had half the audience dancing in the aisles. It was said that Phil Spector was somewhere in the audience, so I might have rubbed shoulders with him.
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