Feature Photo: Adrián Pérez from Helsinki, Finland, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Cinderella was an American rock band formed in the Philadelphia suburb of Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania, in 1983. Tom Keifer and Eric Brittingham were there from the beginning, while guitarist Jeff LaBar joined in 1985 and drummer Fred Coury joined in 1986, creating the lineup most fans associate with the band. Cinderella broke nationally with Night Songs in 1986, then moved further into blues-based hard rock on Long Cold Winter (1988), Heartbreak Station (1990), and Still Climbing (1994). Songs such as “Nobody’s Fool,” “Gypsy Road,” “Coming Home,” and “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)” became lasting staples of the band’s catalog.
Cinderella’s history included a number of lineup changes, touring musicians, and studio players, especially during periods when recording schedules, touring demands, and Fred Coury’s temporary departure required additional musicians. The band resumed touring after its mid-1990s hiatus and continued performing through 2014, when Cinderella played its final shows. In 2017, Tom Keifer said there were no plans for a reunion. Jeff LaBar died in 2021, while Keifer, Brittingham, and Coury continued with their own musical careers.
The list below separates Cinderella’s final lineup, early members, touring musicians, and studio or session contributors so the roles are clear.
Final Cinderella Lineup
Tom Keifer
Tom Keifer was Cinderella’s lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and one of the band’s founders. His raspy voice, blues-based guitar work, and songwriting became the center of Cinderella’s identity from 1983 through the band’s final performances in 2014. Keifer also played keyboards, piano, saxophone, harmonica, steel guitar, mandolin, dobro, and other instruments across the group’s recordings. He wrote or co-wrote the majority of Cinderella’s best-known songs, including “Nobody’s Fool,” “Gypsy Road,” “Coming Home,” and “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone).”
Keifer’s vocal problems in the early 1990s delayed the completion of Still Climbing, but he eventually returned to performing after treatment and extensive vocal rehabilitation. After Cinderella became inactive, he established a solo career with The Way Life Goes in 2013 and Rise in 2019. He remains active in 2026 with the #keiferband, performing both Cinderella material and songs from his solo catalog.
Eric Brittingham
Eric Brittingham co-founded Cinderella with Tom Keifer in 1983 and remained the band’s bassist and backing vocalist through 2014. His bass playing helped anchor Cinderella’s shift from the heavier sound of Night Songs toward the bluesier material heard on Long Cold Winter and Heartbreak Station. Brittingham also received songwriting credit with Keifer on “If You Don’t Like It” from Long Cold Winter and “Hot and Bothered” from the Wayne’s World soundtrack era.
Outside Cinderella, Brittingham worked with projects including Naked Beggars, Cheap Thrill, and Devil City Angels. His steady presence from the group’s formation through its final shows made him, along with Keifer, one of Cinderella’s two continuous members.
Jeff LaBar
Jeff LaBar joined Cinderella in 1985 as guitarist and backing vocalist and remained with the band through its final performances in 2014. His guitar work became a major part of Cinderella’s sound on all four studio albums, and his slide playing fit especially well with the band’s increasingly blues-oriented direction. LaBar appears throughout Night Songs, Long Cold Winter, Heartbreak Station, and Still Climbing, working alongside Keifer to create the twin-guitar sound heard in the band’s live shows.
LaBar also pursued outside projects, including Naked Beggars and his 2014 solo album One for the Road. He died on July 14, 2021, at the age of 58. His playing remains an essential part of Cinderella’s recorded and live legacy.
Fred Coury
Fred Coury became Cinderella’s permanent drummer after the recording of Night Songs was completed and joined the touring lineup in 1986. He appeared in the band’s videos and became the drummer most closely identified with Cinderella during its commercial peak. Although he was credited as the band’s drummer on Long Cold Winter, the principal studio drum performances on that album were played by Cozy Powell, with Denny Carmassi on “Second Wind.” Coury did play on Heartbreak Station, left the band after that touring cycle, and later returned in 1996.
During Coury’s absence, Cinderella used other drummers in the studio and on tour, including Kenny Aronoff and several touring replacements. Coury returned for the band’s reunion years and remained through the final 2014 performances. In later years he built a major second career as a composer for television, film, and professional sports, and he remains active in that field in 2026.
Early Cinderella Members
Michael Schermick
Michael Schermick, better known professionally as Michael Kelly Smith, was one of Cinderella’s original guitarists and backing vocalists from 1983 to 1985. He was part of the early lineup with Tom Keifer, Eric Brittingham, and Tony Destra and helped establish Cinderella on the Philadelphia-area club circuit before the band signed with Mercury. Schermick and Destra left in 1985 and became founding members of Britny Fox, where Schermick played lead guitar through the band’s best-known period.
Tony Destra
Tony Destra was Cinderella’s original drummer and played with the band from 1983 to 1985. He performed during Cinderella’s early club years and appeared on the band’s early independent recordings before departing with Michael Schermick. The two musicians went on to help form Britny Fox. Destra died in an automobile accident on February 8, 1987.
Jim Drnec
Jim Drnec joined Cinderella on drums after Tony Destra’s departure and was part of the band during the transition toward its major-label debut. He was in the group during 1985 and into the Night Songs recording period, but studio drummer Jody Cortez ultimately handled the drum performances on the album. Drnec left before Cinderella’s touring lineup was finalized with Fred Coury.
Albie “Al” Barker
Albie “Al” Barker briefly occupied the drum position in 1986 after the Night Songs recording sessions and before Fred Coury became the band’s permanent touring drummer. His tenure was short, but it came during the final lineup transition immediately before Cinderella’s national breakthrough.
Touring Musicians
Rick Criniti
Rick Criniti was a longtime keyboardist, pianist, organist, synthesizer player, and backing vocalist associated with Cinderella from the mid-1980s into the mid-1990s. He supported the band on tour and also contributed studio keyboards to Long Cold Winter and Heartbreak Station. His piano and organ helped Cinderella reproduce the increasingly blues-based and roots-oriented arrangements that became central to the band’s sound.
Garry Nutt
Garry Nutt served as a touring bassist for Cinderella during several periods when Eric Brittingham was unavailable, including dates associated with 1989, 2000, and 2008. His role was primarily as a live substitute rather than a studio member of the band.
Gary Corbett
Gary Corbett served as a touring keyboardist and backing vocalist with Cinderella during the Heartbreak Station period and again during the band’s later reunion years. He first joined the touring organization in the early 1990s after working as an offstage keyboardist with KISS. Corbett remained closely associated with Cinderella for many years and was remembered by Tom Keifer, Eric Brittingham, and Fred Coury as a longtime friend and touring musician. He died from cancer on July 14, 2021, the same day Jeff LaBar died.
Kevin Valentine
Kevin Valentine played drums and percussion with Cinderella as a touring musician from 1991 to 1993. His tenure came after Fred Coury’s departure following the Heartbreak Station touring cycle. Valentine helped cover the band’s live drum role during the period before the recording and release of Still Climbing.
Roberta Freeman
Roberta Freeman provided backing vocals during Cinderella’s 1990 to 1991 touring period. Her vocals helped expand the live arrangements used during the Heartbreak Station tour, particularly on songs that required additional vocal layering.
Dianne Jones
Dianne Jones also provided backing vocals during Cinderella’s 1990 to 1991 touring period. She worked alongside the expanded touring ensemble used during the Heartbreak Station era and contributed additional harmonies to the live presentation.
Charles Lawrence
Charles Lawrence served as a touring keyboardist and backing vocalist with Cinderella in 1991. His role helped support the keyboard-heavy arrangements that had become increasingly important by the time of Heartbreak Station.
Ray Brinker
Ray Brinker played drums and percussion during Cinderella’s 1994 to 1995 touring period. He supported the band as it returned to the road around Still Climbing, providing the live rhythm section while Fred Coury was away from the group.
Phillip Calfy
Phillip Calfy played drums and percussion with Cinderella during touring activity in 2006. His role was as a live substitute during the band’s reunion years rather than as a studio member.
John Rogers
John Rogers played drums and percussion with Cinderella during the 2009 to 2010 period. He was part of the extended live personnel used during the band’s later reunion era.
Paul Taylor
Paul Taylor, known for his work with Winger, Alice Cooper, and other artists, toured with Cinderella on keyboards and backing vocals in 2012 and returned for later dates. His keyboard work helped fill out the arrangements during Cinderella’s final touring years.
Studio And Session Musicians
Jody Cortez
Jody Cortez was the principal session drummer on Cinderella’s 1986 debut album Night Songs. Cinderella was still searching for a permanent drummer during the sessions, and Cortez handled the studio drum performances before Fred Coury was hired for the touring lineup. Cortez’s playing therefore appears on the album even though Coury became the drummer seen in the band’s videos and promotional lineup.
Barry Benedetta
Barry Benedetta contributed lead guitar to selected tracks on Night Songs. His session work added additional guitar parts during the recording of Cinderella’s debut while the band’s studio lineup was still being finalized.
Jeff Paris
Jeff Paris contributed keyboards to Night Songs. His session work supplied additional keyboard texture on the debut album before Cinderella developed the larger touring keyboard setup used in later years.
Cozy Powell
Cozy Powell was a major studio contributor to Cinderella’s 1988 album Long Cold Winter. Although Fred Coury was the band’s official drummer and was credited with the group, Powell played the principal drum parts on most of the album. His powerful playing suited the heavier blues-rock direction Cinderella pursued on the record.
Denny Carmassi
Denny Carmassi contributed drums to Long Cold Winter, including the performance on “Second Wind.” His appearance was part of the session-drum arrangement used while Fred Coury remained Cinderella’s touring and official drummer.
Kevin Conway
Kevin Conway contributed drums and percussion as a session musician during the early 1990s. His involvement belongs to the broader group of drummers used during the period when Cinderella’s rhythm-section personnel were changing around the Heartbreak Station era.
Kenny Aronoff
Kenny Aronoff was the principal studio drummer on Cinderella’s 1994 album Still Climbing. His powerful, precise playing appears across the album during the period when Fred Coury was away from Cinderella. Coury appears on “Hot and Bothered,” while Aronoff handled the principal drum work on the rest of the record.
Ken Hensley
Former Uriah Heep keyboardist Ken Hensley contributed organ to Heartbreak Station. His Hammond-style playing fit naturally with the blues, roots, and classic-rock influences that had become increasingly prominent in Cinderella’s music by 1990.
Rod Roddy
Rod Roddy contributed piano and clavinet to Heartbreak Station. His playing appears on several tracks and added another layer to the album’s broader keyboard and roots-rock arrangements.
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Updated September 23, 2026.
Complete List Of Cinderella Band Members article published on ClassicRockHistory.com © 2026
