The Rascals

The Rascals (originally known as the Young Rascals) are an American rock and blue-eyed soul band formed in Garfield, New Jersey, southeast of Paterson in 1965. The original lineup featured lead vocalist and keyboardist Felix Cavaliere, vocalist and percussionist Eddie Brigati, drummer Dino Danelli, and guitarist and vocalist Gene Cornish. Cavaliere and Brigati wrote the majority of the Rascals' original material.

Between 1966 and 1968 the band gained popularity with a blend of rock, pop and soul music. Nine of their singles charted in the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, including the No. 1s "Good Lovin'" (1966), "Groovin'" (1967), and "People Got to Be Free" (1968); as well as big radio hits like the much-covered "How Can I Be Sure?" (No. 4, 1967) and "A Beautiful Morning" (No. 3, 1968). Another critical favorite, "A Girl Like You" (No. 10, 1967), became an early example of the blue-eyed soul genre. Additionally, four of the band's LPs received gold certifications in the US, including the top 10 albums Groovin' (1967) and Once Upon a Dream (1968). The group continued into the early 1970s after the departures of Brigati and Cornish, with Cavaliere leading the Rascals in a more album-oriented direction with strong jazz and funk influences.

The Rascals were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Hit Parade Hall of Fame in 2010, and the classic lineup also reunited in 2012 for a series of shows in New York and New Jersey. The reunion continued in 2013 with shows on Broadway. Cavaliere and Cornish began performing again as the Rascals in 2022 without Brigati and Danelli, the latter of whom died the same year.