Dennis Hardy "Fergie" Frederiksen (May 15, 1951 – January 18, 2014) was an American rock singer best known as the former lead singer of

Trillion ''Trillion'' is a number with two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000,000, i.e. one million million, or (ten to the twelfth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now the meaning in both American and British English. * 1,000,000,000,00 ...

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles ...

, LeRoux and Toto, as well as providing backing vocals for Survivor. He contributed to hit singles in three consecutive years, all with different bands: Survivor's "American Heartbeat" in 1982, LeRoux's "Carrie's Gone" in 1983 and Toto's " Stranger in Town" in 1984.

Early life and career

Frederiksen started his musical career at the age of 13, and he played clubs and pubs at the age of 15 with a group called the Common People in

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

, MI. In 1975, while he was still attending college at

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan cor ...

, Frederiksen was asked by his friend

Tommy Shaw Tommy Roland Shaw (born September 11, 1953) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known for his tenure in the rock band Styx (band), Styx as co-lead vocalist. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with other groups includi ...

to replace him as the lead vocalist for the band MSFunk, as Shaw was leaving to join

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, ...

.Fergie Frederiksen biography
, La Roux website. Retrieved October 2, 2011. Frederiksen was with MSFunk for a year before disbanding in 1976. While living in Chicago, he helped form a local progressive rock band called Trillion with keyboardist

Patrick Leonard Patrick Ray Leonard (born March 14, 1956) is an American songwriter, keyboardist, film composer, and music producer, best known for his longtime collaboration with Madonna. His work with Madonna includes her albums '' True Blue'' (1986), ''Who's ...

. Trillion's debut album was released in 1978 and was produced by Gary Lyons (producer of Foreigner's debut album); all but one of its nine tracks were co-written by Frederiksen. The band went on to tour with Styx,

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as ca ...

and

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues ...

, where Frederiksen began performing his trademark back-flips during live shows to fire up crowds, a tactic he would continue with later bands. Frederiksen would leave the group after one album, and was replaced by Thom Griffin. After leaving Trillion, Frederiksen started focusing mainly on session work; primarily movie soundtracks. In 1979, he signed with

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label current ...

, where he performed under the alias of David London. (Frederiksen wanted to separate his rock image from the disco image Casablanca was known for.) He sang two tracks ("Samantha" and "Sound Of The City") on the soundtrack to

Can't Stop The Music ''Can't Stop the Music'' is a 1980 American musical comedy film directed by Nancy Walker. Written by Allan Carr and Bronté Woodard, the film is a pseudo-biography of the 1970s disco group the Village People loosely based on the actual story ...

(which reached number 47 on the ''Billboard'' 200), as well as a more AOR-style solo album in 1981, with his friend Mark Christian as the lead guitarist. This would turn out to be one of the last albums released by Casablanca Records, as the fall of disco in the early 1980s forced the label to fold, eventually becoming part of

Polygram Records PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

. He would drop the stage name soon after, officially going by his childhood nickname "Fergie", which stemmed from his grade school classmates once incorrectly thinking his last name was "Ferguson". While at Casablanca, he met

Gregg Giuffria Gregg Giuffria (born July 28, 1951) is an American rock musician and businessman. He was the keyboardist for AOR bands Angel, House of Lords, and Giuffria. Career Giuffria is originally from Gulfport, Mississippi, graduating from high schoo ...

, of the recently defunct glam-rock band

(one of the few rock acts signed by the record label). The two started working in his studio in late 1981 in hopes of a possible new Angel LP under a new line-up. It was in these Angel recordings where Frederiksen met bassist

Ricky Phillips Ricky Lynn Phillips (born October 7, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and a member of the rock band Styx since 2003, splitting duties with longtime bassist Chuck Panozzo. He has also played in Nasty Habit, as a member of The Babys and Bad En ...

. The two became long-time friends and have collaborated on many projects. This line-up never completed an official album, as Giuffria started focusing heavily on the formation of his group

Giuffria Giuffria was an American rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in 1981 by Gregg Giuffria after his departure from the band Angel. History Giuffria was formed as Gregg Giuffria's side project in 1981 after his departure from Angel. At the ...

in 1982, but did record three songs during band sessions: "Whips", "Troubleshooter", and "Should Have Known Better". These tracks were later released on the ''Angel Rarities'' collection, and were eventually covered by White Sister. After

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

singer Steve Walsh originally left the band, auditions were held in early 1982. Frederiksen was one of several candidates who tried out, but

John Elefante John Elefante (born March 18, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, and record producer. From 1981-1984, he was lead vocalist of the rock group Kansas and is currently touring with several groups that have featured members fro ...

eventually took over the lead vocal spot. However, Kansas manager Budd Carr spotted Fergie during auditions and began working with him soon after, which ultimately would prove instrumental for Frederiksen's career. It was around this time that long-time friends

Jim Peterik James Michael Peterik ( ; born November 11, 1950) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the founder of the rock band Survivor, as vocalist and songwriter of "Vehicle" by the Ides of March, and as co-writer of the anthem ...

and

Frankie Sullivan Frankie Sullivan (born February 1, 1955) is an American guitarist, best known for being a founding member of the rock band Survivor. He has been the only permanent fixture in its lineup since the band's 1977 inception. Early life According t ...

from Survivor invited Frederiksen to their studio during the recording of their third album, while lead singer

Dave Bickler David Bickler (born March 31, 1953) is an American singer, best known as the lead singer for the rock band Survivor from 1978 until 1983, most notably on the #1 U.S. hit "Eye of the Tiger". In addition to his wide vocal range, his trademark l ...

was experiencing vocal cord strain. Ultimately, Bickler was able to finish the album, and Frederiksen assisted with background vocals. The band's third album ''

Eye of the Tiger "Eye of the Tiger" is a song by American rock band Survivor. It was released as a single from their third album of the same name and was also the theme song for the 1982 film ''Rocky III'', which was released a day before the single. The son ...

'' was released in May 1982, with Frederiksen credited simply as "Fergie".''Louisiana Music Hall of Fame'
"INDUCTEES-VIDEOS LeRoux #48 LIVE performance and interview Fergie-Jim-Leon-Rod"
, Retrieved on May 3, 2010. It jumped to number 2 on the ''Billboard'' charts, and eventually went 2× Platinum on the strength of its #1 title track. Frederiksen provided harmonies on five tracks, including the album's second single, "American Heartbeat", which charted in the top 20. In late summer of 1982, Frederiksen and Asia (not the hit-making British supergroup) guitarist Jim Odom were both recruited by manager Budd Carr, to replace lead singer/guitarist Jeff Pollard of LeRoux, who had recently left the band to start his own Christian ministry. Fergie became LeRoux's new front-man soon after. ''So Fired Up'', the band's fifth album, was released in February 1983. It included the hit song "Carrie's Gone", which Frederiksen wrote shortly after breaking up with then girlfriend

Carrie Hamilton Carrie Louise Hamilton (December 5, 1963 – January 20, 2002) was an American actress, playwright and singer. Hamilton was a daughter of comedian Carol Burnett and producer Joe Hamilton. She was also the older sister of Jody Hamilton, an ac ...

(

Carol Burnett Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. Her groundbreaking comedy variety show ''The Carol Burnett Show'', which originally aired on CBS was one of the first of its kind to be hosted ...

's daughter). The band was dropped from

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

Records, broke up, but reformed in 1985 with a new singer and are still together and touring. They were recently inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Meanwhile, Frederiksen reunited with

to start a brand new band called Abandon Shame, featuring

Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...

keyboardist

Jonathan Cain Jonathan Leonard Friga (born February 26, 1950), known professionally as Jonathan Cain, is an American musician and songwriter best known as the keyboardist for Journey. He has also worked with the Babys and Bad English. Cain was inducted into ...

, and his wife Tane. The quartet worked on 5 songs in 1984, with Fergie only singing on one of the tracks. The

Kevin Elson Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...

-produced "You Can't Do That", "Burnin' in the Third Degree", and "Photoplay" appeared in the soundtrack to ''

The Terminator ''The Terminator'' is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor ( Linda Hamilton), wh ...

'', and were credited to Tahnee Cain and Trianglz. While "Kicks" and "Over Night Sensation" would eventually appear in the 1985 film '' Armed Response'', with Tane and Fergie singing the leads respectively. Phillips, who was friends with Toto drummer

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (; April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work with the rock band Toto but is one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working o ...

, gave him a Frederiksen demo.(September 2007)
Fergie Frederiksen interview
Lords of Metal. Toto, who had fired lead singer

Bobby Kimball Robert Troy Kimball (born March 29, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter best known as the original and longtime frontman of the rock band Toto from 1977 to 1984 and again from 1998 to 2008. Kimball has also performed as a solo artist and ...

in the midst of recording their fifth album '' Isolation'', invited Frederiksen to come audition for his spot. After edging out Eric Martin,Seely, Todd (7 February 2005)
The Fuze Interview with Steve Lukather
stevelukather.net. Retrieved on July 10, 2015. he got the job, and the band finished recording ''Isolation'', which was released in October 1984. It included the hit song " Stranger in Town" and went Gold. The music video for "Stranger in Town", which featured Fergie as the murder victim, was nominated at the

1985 MTV Video Music Awards The 1985 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 13, 1985, honoring the best music videos from May 2, 1984, to May 1, 1985. The show was hosted by Eddie Murphy at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Don Henley was the night's bigge ...

for Best Direction. After touring with Toto through 1985, Frederiksen was fired from the band during the initial recording sessions for ''

Fahrenheit The Fahrenheit scale () is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he originally defined hi ...

'', mainly due to his difficulties with performing in the studio. He has repeatedly cited his brief tenure with Toto as the highlight of his career.

Later life, career, and death

Following his expulsion from Toto, Frederiksen took to touring as "Toto", using a setlist which included many Toto songs that predated his time with the band. This angered the real Toto, who had already taken out an

injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in p ...

against Frederiksen's predecessor, Bobby Kimball, to stop him from doing the same thing. (Toto and Frederiksen were reconciled in 2007, at which point he joined them on stage for a few guest spots on their tour.) After 12 years in the music industry, Frederiksen unofficially retired and started focusing on the restaurant business with his father. He returned to music in the mid-1990s to reunite and collaborate with Ricky Phillips. Their ''Frederiksen/Phillips'' album was released in 1995, and featured Giuffria's David Glen Eisley on background vocals. Phillips also assisted Frederiksen with his solo album ''Equilibrium'' in 1999, which also featured artists like

Neal Schon Neal (Neil) is a given masculine name and surname of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an Anglicisation of the Irish Niall which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "hon ...

Steve Porcaro Steven Maxwell Porcaro (born September 2, 1957) is an American keyboardist, songwriter, and film composer, known as one of the founding members of the rock band Toto and the last surviving Porcaro brother (after the deaths of Jeff in 1992 and M ...

, Jason Scheff,

Ron Wikso Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe A ...

Rocket Ritchotte A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

Dave Amato David Paul Amato (born March 3, 1953) is an American musician, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band REO Speedwagon since May 1989. Early years He was born and raised near Framingham, Massachusetts. At age 11, his first band wa ...

Bruce Gowdy Bruce Gowdy is an American guitarist, best known for his work with World Trade, and Unruly Child. Biography Gowdy was a founding member of World Trade with Billy Sherwood and Guy Allison. He later formed Unruly Child with Allison. He was also a ...

and many others. He later explained, "I tried to do without usicbut I was miserable."Ritchie, Jason (2002)
10 Questions With...: Fergie Frederiksen
Get Ready to Rock!: The Website for Classic, Metal, & Progressive Rock. The album was critically acclaimed in Europe and Japan. In 2002, he joined the band Mecca, where he reunited with Jim Peterik. Fergie has also done several collaborations with

Tommy Denander Tommy Denander (born March 10, 1968, in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is mostly famous for his role in the AOR project Radioactive, signed to Frontiers Records. The new Radioactive album called X ...

since his return to music, and has also toured with the

World Classic Rockers World Classic Rockers (or WCR) is a rock supergroup band that was founded based from Las Vegas in 1995 by Nick St. Nicholas of Steppenwolf. St. Nicholas has toured with the band since its inception, which, in similar fashion to Ringo Starr ...

and the

Voices of Classic Rock Voices of Classic Rock is a rock music ensemble featuring singers and musicians from classic rock groups popular in the 1970s and 1980s. Voices of Classic Rock was formed in 1998. In 2001, following the September 11 attacks, they released a versio ...

. In June 2010, Frederiksen announced he had been diagnosed with inoperable cancer.''antimusic.com'
Former Toto/Survivor Singer Diagnosed With Inoperable Cancer
Retrieved on June 22, 2010 He had been suffering from Hepatitis C and presented a few fundraisers to raise awareness of the disease. Medical treatments for the cancer made it difficult for him to do recording sessions, and initially he planned on retiring again. However, his friend

Alex Ligertwood Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple peop ...

pushed him to continue. After starting treatment, Frederiksen released two more solo albums: ''Happiness is the Road'' and ''Any Given Moment''.(August 30, 2011)
Former Toto Singer Fergie Frederiksen to Release Happiness is The Road Album in October
Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. He died from

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

on January 18, 2014, at his home in

Mound, Minnesota Mound is a city in western Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 9,052 at the 2010 census. Mound was the birthplace of the Tonka truck that is named after Lake Minnetonka, which the eastern part of town sits on. Mound i ...

. He is survived by his three sons.

Discography

Main albums

*1978: Trillion: ''Trillion'' (as Dennis Frederiksen) *1981: David London: ''David London'' (as David London) *1983: LeRoux: ''So Fired Up'' *1984: Toto: '' Isolation'' *1995: Frederiksen/Phillips: ''Frederiksen/Phillips'' *1999: Fergie Frederiksen: ''Equilibrium'' *2002: Mecca: ''Mecca'' *2007: Frederiksen/Denander: ''Baptism By Fire'' *2011: Fergie Frederiksen: ''Happiness is the Road'' *2013: Fergie Frederiksen: ''Any Given Moment'' *NOTE: The above discography ONLY includes official studio releases in which Fergie Frederiksen sang lead vocals on at least half of the tracks.

Featured artist

*1976: MSFunk: ''Platform Shoes (a.k.a...Vinylly)'' (archival) (special thanks) *1980:

Village People Village People is an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics in their music. The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the releas ...

: ''

Can't Stop the Music ''Can't Stop the Music'' is a 1980 American musical comedy film directed by Nancy Walker. Written by Allan Carr and Bronté Woodard, the film is a pseudo-biography of the 1970s disco group the Village People loosely based on the actual story ...

'' ("Samantha" and "Sound of the City" as David London) *1981: Village People: ''Renaissance '' (producer, writer, V.P. band) *1981:

: ''Rarities'' (archival) (sings on 3 tracks) *1981:

Ulysses 31 (french: link=no, Ulysse 31) is an anime series (1981) that updates the Greek mythology of Odysseus (known as "Ulixes" or "Ulysses" in Latin) to the 31st century. The show comprises 26 half-hour episodes as a co-production between DIC Audio ...

: ''Original Television Soundtrack'' (U.S. Main Theme) (archival) *1982:

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

: ''I Paralyse'' (writing) *1982: Survivor: ''

'' (background vocals) *1983: LeRoux: ''AOR Live'' (archival) (sings on "Don't Stand in My Way") *1984: Wiz Kidz: ''Familiar Stranger '' (musical assistance) *1984: Toto: ''

Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

'' (backing vocals on "Take My Hand" (alternate version)) *1986: Toto: ''

'' (backing vocals on "Could This Be Love") *1986: White Sister: ''Fashion By Passion'' (writer) *1987: Karo: ''Heavy Birthday'' (backing vocals on "Ball of Fire") *1997: Joseph Williams: ''3'' (sings on "Goin' Home") *2000: World Classic Rockers: ''World Classic Rockers Vol. 1'' (sings on 6 tracks) *2001: Radioactive: ''Ceremony of Innocence'' (sings on "On My Own" and "Ceremony of Innocence") *2003: World Classic Rockers: ''World Classic Rockers Vol. 2'' (sings on 6 tracks) *2003: Radioactive: ''Yeah'' (sings on "Demon" and "7 A.M.") *2004: AOR: ''Nothing But the Best'' (sings on "Desperate Dreams") *2005: Radioactive: ''Taken'' (sings on "Forgiveness") *2005: Northern Light: ''Northern Light'' (sings on "Eye to Eye") *2008: Myland: ''No Man's Land'' (sings on "When the Love is Gone") *2009: AOR: ''Journey to L.A'' (sings on "Desperate Dreams" (new version)) *2013: AOR: ''The Secrets Of L.A'' (sings on "Deep Whirlpool") *2013: UT New Trolls: ''Duo Ut Des'' (featured on "Can't Go On") *NOTE: The discography above ONLY includes previously unreleased material contributed to by Fergie Frederiksen.

Project Timeline

*Flyin Home: (1972-1974) *Common People: (1974-1975) *MS Funk: (1975-1976) *Trillion: (1977-1979) *David London: (1979-1981) *Angel: (1981-1982) *LeRoux: (1982-1983) *Abandon Shame: (1984) *Toto: (1984-1985) *RTZ: (1987) *The Fergie Frederiksen Group: (1995-1997) *Voices of Classic Rock: (2002) *Mecca: (1999-2005) *World Classic Rockers: (1997-2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederiksen, Dennis 1951 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers American male singers American male pop singers American rock singers Angel (band) members Central Michigan University alumni Deaths from cancer in Minnesota Deaths from liver cancer Musicians from Grand Rapids, Michigan Toto (band) members World Classic Rockers members