Milestones

DIED

Although he played in one of rock 'n' roll's most influential backing bands for nearly 40 years, Danny Federici hardly reveled in the limelight. The E Street Band keyboardist--he played organ, accordion and glockenspiel, as the situation demanded--would arrive just in time for shows, then duck out as soon as they finished, leading Bruce Springsteen to call him "Phantom Dan." He first played alongside the Boss in clubs on the New Jersey Shore in the 1960s, and his signature sound can be heard on many of Springsteen's hits, notably 1973's 4th of July, Asbury Park and 1980's Hungry Heart. Federici...

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