QUIET RIOT's Frankie Banali spoke to The Metal Voice about his recent diagnosis of stage four pancreatic cancer. The drummer revealed in a social media post that he has been battling the disease since this past spring, saying that he is "feeling much better and stronger now" and vowing to play with QUIET RIOT later this month and through 2020. Speaking about the reaction from his fans to the news that he is suffering from cancer, Banali said: "It's been overwhelming, the amount of love and prayers and support that everyone has shared on my Facebook page and via text messages, e-mails, private messages and everything. I'm incredibly fortunate and incredibly grateful to have this much support from fans and friends." Asked if the production process for QUIET RIOT's upcoming studio album, "Hollywood Cowboys", was affected by his cancer diagnosis, Banali said: "Well, the album was already recorded. And two days after I had my diagnosis, I was scheduled to start mixing that record with our engineer, Neil Citron. And two days after the diagnosis, I jumped right in and started mixing the record. I didn't let that situation, as dire as the prognosis was at the time, stop me. And to give you an idea of my mindset and my strength, two days after I did one of the rounds of chemo, I was on a Western set in the desert — really hot — in wardrobe for 12 hours. And a month later, three days after another round of chemo, I was on the set for the final day of shooting at a different location. So I just kept moving forward as business was usual. Unfortunately, my doctors were very adamant to make sure that I wasn't flying to dates, and that's one of the reasons that I wasn't able to — or the major reason why I was not able to do the shows with QUIET RIOT." According to Banali, he is "back in the saddle again" and he will join his QUIET RIOT bandmates on stage at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California this coming Saturday, October 26. "And we'll see where we go from there," he said. When Frankie announced his cancer diagnosis, he said that he was "on the mend" and vowed "to continue fighting." QUIET RIOT played several shows this year without Banali, marking the first time ever that the band performed without any of the members from its classic lineup: Banali, singer Kevin DuBrow, guitarist Carlos Cavazo and bassist Rudy Sarzo. At some of QUIET RIOT's recent shows, Banali was replaced by Johnny Kelly (DANZIG, TYPE O NEGATIVE). Banali resurrected QUIET RIOT in 2010, three years after the death of founding member and singer Kevin DuBrow. QUIET RIOT went through two vocalists — Mark Huff and Scott Vokoun — before settling on Jizzy Pearl in 2013. Pearl announced his exit from QUIET RIOT in October 2016 and was briefly replaced by Seann Nichols, who played only five shows with the group before the March 2017 arrival of "American Idol" finalist Durbin. Pearl returned to QUIET RIOT in September. "Hollywood Cowboys" will be released on November 8 via Frontiers Music Srl.
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