The Residents of E Street Pay Their Respects:

The fans on Backstreets, the insiders' website dedicated to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, are calling for a simple donation to be made in the name of E Street Band member Danny Federici who passed away last week. The suggestion is $1 a show. I have to count up my shows and send a check to The Danny Federici Melanoma Fund (click the link or the headline above).

I sat and wondered why the news of a musicians' death hits so many of us so hard? The truth is, of course, I never met Federici and never paid all that much attention to him as he played the keyboard at some of the great rock shows of all time. He was the ultimate complementary musician, simply because he played well and knew his role.

Yet, he was a part of our family, the family of rock that we all grew up with. And, the simple truth is that a death like that reminds us all of our mortality.

Three musicians who've passed away before Federici brought the same feelings along for me. The terrible assassination of John Lennon was the most shocking, of course, and it brought out the deepest and strongest emotions. The death of Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead was a punch in the stomach and was deeply painful. The sudden death of John Entwistle of The Who brought me to tears as it brought on a different set of emotions and more of a selfish thought of, 'damn, he was one of my all-time favorite bass players and I won't be able to see him anymore...why the hell was he taken from us at such an early age?'

Entwistle, 57 at the time of his death as most of you know, I am sure, died suddenly in a Las Vegas hotel room on June 27, 2002 as The Who were preparing to play a concert tour to begin the next night at the House of Blues in Vegas. Entwisle's performance at The Concert for New York that previous October will be one of my fond lasting memories of him.

All which bring me back to Springsteen and the E Street Band. One member is now gone and a cold reminder of our own mortality now remains as a part of every ticket purchased as the band plays on.

The video below is taken from a concert in Indianapolis on March 20th when Danny joined the band for the last time.