By Monk
Tommy DeCarlo, lead vocalist with AOR legends Boston for the past two decades, has died following a short battle with brain cancer. He was 60 years old.
DeCarlo joined Boston in 2007 following the suicide in March that year of original singer Brad Delp. He got the gig after he sent a link to his MySpace page, which featured him singing Boston covers, to the band’s management. In a poignant twist to the story of his rise from a DIY store worker to fronting the band he grew up idolizing, he died on the 19th anniversary of Delp’s passing.
Writing on the band’s Facebook page, Boston founder Ton Scholz said:
Everyone who has heard Tommy sing on stage, or on Boston albums, knows what a gifted artist he was, but few know how hard he worked to fill that role of Boston’s lead vocalist, and to turn himself into a top-tier live performer – or more important, what a dedicated father he was to his children.
Tommy was a competitive athlete, and yet a gentle soul who is remembered by by his son and many others as a sweet man who did not deserve to be cut down at such a young age. It’s not surprising that one of his favorite Boston songs to sing was ‘To Be a Man’.
While many people will remember Tommy giving his audience amazing live performances, I will remember him as the incredible singer who appeared out of nowhere to rescue Boston in 2007, and gave all of us with the band 10 additional years of performing our most memorable live shows.
Rest in peace Tommy, you did know what it took to be a man.
In 2012 he also formed his own band, DECARLO, alongside his guitarist son, Tommy Jr, going on to release an album, ‘Lightning Strikes Twice’, via Frontiers Music in January 2020. He also released a solo album via the same label in December 2022.