Hamtramck's 'Danny D' now has something to really sing about

By Terry Parris, Jr.

Citizen Staffwriter

He can finally check “sing a duet with Rod Stewart” off his list of to-dos.

Danny D, a longtime Hamtramck musician and Rod Stewart look-a-like, fulfilled that dream this summer at DTE Energy Music Theatre when Rod Stewart pulled him up on stage for the last song.

“I was in the front row and he kept looking at me,” Danny D said. “Then he pulled me up. I was shocked. We did ‘Do You Think I’m Sexy’ and it was a great three minutes and it happened so fast.”

Danny D, 48, has been a musician for the better part of his life. He started playing music in bands when he was 15 years old.

“Something like this,” Danny D said, “well, it just goes to show you that if you plug away at an industry for so long good things will happen.”

His striking resemblance to Stewart could stop you in your tracks and in some photos he even looks more like Rod Stewart than Rod Stewart. He’s been impersonating the singer for eight years now traveling all over, including Las Vegas, to perform.

“I met Gene Simmons in Vegas and he thought I was Rod for awhile,” Danny D said. “I had him going.” Gene Simmons, of course, is the legendary bassist with the long tongue from KISS.

Danny D also suffers from Tourette syndrome, a condition that produces involuntary movements and vocalizations. He says Tourrettes is like having someone else making these sounds and movements, oftentimes called ticks, and not being able to control it.

The ticks, however, do not show up when Danny D performs. The music has had a calming effect on his condition, which, in turn, drives Danny D to perform as much as possible.

“I’m recording a new album, I play a lot of gigs, I’m going to Branson (Missouri) and Vegas,” he said. “I’m not a quitter.”

(For more information about Danny D check out www.dannydlive.com .)