(File Photo: Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of the Gabauer Family Funeral Homes & Cremation Services)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver Falls, PA) A memorial and register book will be available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Thursday at the GABAUER-LUTTON FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICES, INC., 117 Blackhawk Road, Beaver Falls, for fans, friends, and others that can share memories to remember the late Pittsburgh music legend, Donnie Iris.

Iris passed away from bladder cancer on October 26th, 2026 at the age of 83. Iris gained national fame after singing with the Jaggerz on their #1 song, “The Rapper.”

He and Mark Avsec founded Donnie Iris and the Cruisers and had hit songs like “Ah, Leah!,” “Love is Like a Rock,” and “That’s the Way Love Ought To Be.” 

Messages will be collected and given to the family of Iris. 

His family members are asking that instead of offering flowers, people would donate toward scholarship and cancer research funds that are planned in Iris’ honor.