R.I.P. Danny Federici, Longtime E-Street Band Member

Danny Federici, one of the original members of the E-Street Band that brought Bruce Springsteen to fame, has died at the age of 58. He died of melanoma, a type of skin cancer, at New York's Sloan-Kettering Hospital.

Federici was a keyboardist who played with Springsteen for 40 years, as Springsteen explains in a note on his Web site. He had been battling melanoma for three years and had been touring with Springsteen and the E-Street Band until last November.

Danny Federici was a key member of the band, and it's sad that he has left us so early.