Boston Singer Tommy DeCarlo Passes Away at 60 Due to Brain Cancer
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Tommy DeCarlo, the lead vocalist for Boston, passed away on March 9 in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the age of 60. His death was attributed to brain cancer.
DeCarlo’s family shared the news via a Facebook post, stating, “After being diagnosed with brain cancer last September, he fought with incredible strength and courage right up until the very end.”
Born on April 23, 1965, in Utica, New York, DeCarlo developed a passion for Boston’s music in 1977 when he was just 12 years old. The band had launched in 1976 with their self-titled Epic album, which achieved significant success by reaching No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and spending 138 weeks on the chart. Their follow-up albums, Don’t Look Back (1978) and Third Stage (1986), both secured the top position.
In the 1990s, DeCarlo began to cover his favorite Boston songs. Following the death of original lead singer Brad Delp by suicide in March 2007, DeCarlo created an original tribute song and recorded several covers. Encouraged by his daughter, he shared these songs on a MySpace page, which caught the attention of Boston’s management. This led to him being invited by founding member Tom Scholz to audition for the band. DeCarlo subsequently became the lead vocalist for all subsequent touring lineups of Boston.
In 2013, Boston’s album Life Love & Hope reached No. 37 on the Billboard 200, featuring DeCarlo on lead vocals for tracks such as “Someday,” “You Gave Up on Love (2.0),” and “The Way You Look Tonight.”
In 2012, DeCarlo teamed up with his son, Tommy DeCarlo Jr., to form the band DECARLO. They signed with Frontier Records Srl and released an album titled Lightning Strikes Twice in January 2020.
In November 2021, he recorded and released the audiobook Unlikely Rockstar – The Tommy DeCarlo Story.
DeCarlo signed a solo record deal in 2022 with Frontier Records for his project Dancing in the Moonlight, which was released in December of the same year.
