Michael Fonfara, the Canadian keyboardist who served in Lou Reed’s support band during the 1970s, died at the age of 74.
Fonfara died on Friday in a Toronto, Ontario hospital, of complications from a two-year battle with cancer, the keyboardist’s aide said. Rolling Stone.
In addition to his tenure with Reed from 1974 to 1980, Fonfara was also a longtime member of the Canadian blues group Downchild. “He’s the best musician I’ve ever worked with,” Downchild co-founder Donnie Walsh said in a statement, with bassist Gary Kendall adding, “Yesterday we lost a brother, a bandmate, a co-writer and a dear friend. If you met him, you loved him. A creative genius. “
After stints at the 60’s rock concerts, Electric Flag (in 1968 Long time coming) and Rhinoceros, Fonfara was hired by Reed to work on the singer’s 1974 album Sally can’t dance. For the rest of the decade, Fonfara would serve as Reed’s studio and touring keyboardist, performing in 1976 Rock and Roll Heart, 1978 Street Hassle and Live: don’t take prisoners, 1979 The bells and 1980 Growing in Public; on the last album, Fonfara is credited as a co-writer and co-producer alongside Reed on the LP.
During a long career that also featured charts with Blackstone, Rough Trade and the Lincolns, Fonfara was hired to provide “keyboard textures” on a pair of songs from Foreigner’s 1981 album. 4, including the hit “Urgent”.