Spike Cassidy

Cassidy was born in Queens, New York and grew up in Sound Beach, New York.

Cassidy, who played guitar, helped form D.R.I. in 1982 when he was 21 years old, along with his friend Kurt Brecht, Kurt's brother Eric Brecht on drums, and Dennis Johnson on bass. After releasing their first album in 1983, D.R.I. experienced its first lineup change, with Eric and Dennis Johnson leaving the band in 1984. Since then, D.R.I. would go through many lineup changes, although Cassidy has remained constant as the guitarist alongside vocalist Kurt Brecht who also has been an all time permanent member.

With the release of the highly regarded but commercially unsuccessful 1985 album Dealing with It!, D.R.I. abandoned the hardcore punk style of their first album for a crossover thrash style, which would continue on their next four albums, Crossover (1987), 4 of a Kind (1988), their breakthrough Thrash Zone (1989), and Definition (1992). After weak sales of their last studio album date, Full Speed Ahead (1995), D.R.I. had decided they would no longer record any new music. Since then, the band has continued touring almost constantly for years, and until 2016's But Wait...There's More!, they had not released any new material.

Cassidy also served as producer for Acid Bath's first album When the Kite String Pops.[2]

In March 2006, Spike was diagnosed with colon cancer, putting D.R.I. on hiatus until his recovery. As of December 2006, Spike completed all radiation and chemotherapy. A one-foot section of large intestine (colon) was removed through an eight-inch (20 cm) incision in his stomach. The surgery, which took place on March 27, 2006 was said to be successful in removing all traces of the cancer. The official D.R.I website states Cassidy to be cancer free as of August 2008.

• Spike Cassidy at Encyclopaedia Metallum