DeCarlo was offered the chance to join the group after sharing a tribute song to the band’s late original singer, Brad Delp
Tommy DeCarlo, who spent nearly 20 years singing with classic-rock favorites Boston, died on Monday. He was 60.
DeCarlo’s family confirmed his death on Facebook, noting that he’d been diagnosed with brain cancer last September. “He fought with incredible strength and courage right up until the very end,” the family said. “During this difficult time, we kindly ask that friends and fans respect our family’s privacy as we grieve and support one another.”
Boston’s guitarist, songwriter, and bandleader Tom Scholz said in a statement, “Celebrated DeCarlo in a tribute, writing, “Everyone who has heard Tommy sing on stage, or on Boston albums, knows what a gifted artist he was, but few know how hard he worked to fill that role of Boston’s lead vocalist, and to turn himself into a top-tier live performer – or more important, what a dedicated father he was to his children. Tommy was a competitive athlete, and yet a gentle soul who is remembered by his son and many others as a sweet man who did not deserve to be cut down at such a young age. It’s not surprising that one of his favorite Boston songs to sing was ‘To Be a Man.’”
DeCarlo was a longtime fan of the group before he got the chance to front them in the late-2000s. A self-taught piano player and choir vocalist, he grew up listening to Boston, and credited original singer Brad Delp with helping him discover his own voice.
“When I first began to listen to Boston as a young teenager, I absolutely loved Brad’s voice and how he would sing those classic hits whenever there was a Boston song on the radio,” DeCarlo said in a bio on the Boston website. “It wasn’t like I was trying to sing like Brad, it was just that I loved to sing along with him.”
At the time, in the mid-Seventies, Boston was one of the biggest rock groups in the world. Their 1976 self-titled debut quickly went platinum on the strength of hits like “More Than a Feeling” and “Peace of Mind.” (It later earned diamond certification from the RIAA in 1990.) Their second album, 1978’s Don’t Look Back, also sold millions of copies, though they didn’t release a follow-up, Third Stage, until 1986. Despite the long break, the album featured the group’s first (and only) Number One single, “Amanda,” as well as the Top 10 track “We’re Ready.”
As for DeCarlo, by the time he was an adult, he was still singing in rock bands, but otherwise working a day job at a Home Depot in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2007, after Delp died by suicide, DeCarlo wrote a tribute song and shared it on MySpace, along with covers of Boston songs like “Smokin'” and “Don’t Look Back.” At the encouragement of his family, he sent a link to his MySpace page to the Boston camp and made himself available for an upcoming tribute show to Delp.
While DeCarlo received a polite rejection at first, a few weeks later, Scholz called him up. Scholz was struck by DeCarlo’s voice, and its similarities to Delp’s. He asked him to join the tribute-show lineup, and not long after, to become a permanent member of the band.
Scholz recalled this moment in his tribute, saying, “I will remember him as the incredible singer who appeared out of nowhere to rescue Boston in 2007, and gave all of us with the band 10 additional years of performing our most memorable live shows. Rest in peace Tommy, you did know what it took to be a man.”
On top of touring with Boston, DeCarlo was one of several singers to contribute vocals to their 2013 album, Life, Love & Hope. He also started a band with his son, Tommy DeCarlo Jr., with the group releasing an album, Lightning Strikes Twice, in 2020. A second LP, Dancing in the Moonlight, arrived in 2022.
In a 2015 interview, DeCarlo tried to express the incredible joy of getting to become part of his favorite band. “We love to listen to it,” he said. “But to actually perform it live, that’s almost indescribable. It’s an amazing feeling, and it’s something that the fans and band members share together in that moment of music. It’s just amazing.”
This story was updated on 3/10/26 with a statement from Tom Scholz.
