Springsteen keyboardist Danny Federici dies at 58

NEW YORK – Danny Federici, the longtime keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen whose stylish work helped define the E Street Band’s sound on hits from “Hungry Heart” through “The Rising,” died Thursday. He was 58.

Federici, who had battled melanoma for three years, died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. News of his death was posted late Thursday on Springsteen’s official Web site. He last performed with Springsteen and the band last month, appearing during portions of a March 20 show in Indianapolis.

Springsteen concerts scheduled for today in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Saturday in Orlando were postponed.

Federici was born in Flemington, N.J., a long car ride from the Jersey shore haunts where he first met kindred musical spirit Springsteen in the late 1960s. The pair often jammed at the Upstage Club in Asbury Park, N.J., a now-defunct after-hours club. It was Federici, along with original E Street Band drummer Vini Lopez, who first invited Springsteen to join their band.