It is with sadness that we report on the passing of the legendary, unforgettable Sonny Del-Rio. He died on Friday, September 18, 2026. Our condolences to his family, friends and fans. We will post more information here as we learn it.
Sonny was a giant in the music scene and his contributions are incalculable. His stellar, decades-long career (he started in 1957) included performing with Crowbar, King Biscuit Boy, Ronnie and the Rockets, Trickbag, Smoke Wagon Blues Band, Ray Materick and too many to mention here. His yearly Hamilton Hometown Christmas shows helped raise a lot of money for charity, earning him a much-deserved Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal medal for his fundraising in 2012.
A word from Lou, our blogger.
Linda and I were lucky to consider Sonny a great friend. We got to laugh with him, hear his incredible stories, and got to experience his immense talent. My wife and I will miss him terribly and our heart goes out to his family. We love you Sonny!
Social Media Reaction
This might be the most tearful goodbye I've had to make about a fellow musician and mentor. Writing something, anything, helps me try to process this sad news this morning. The Smoke Wagon Blues Band and myself owe so much to the legendary Sonny Del Rio. "Mr Hamilton" it was over 23 or 24 years ago we first started playing with Sonny (Dennis Grasley) . We looked up to him so much that I was so scared to ask him to play on our album at the time that I called Jesse O'Brien to ask him for us ha. I was nervous and excited the first time I met him, you got to remember we were a young band at the time. We had a 7:00 a.m early studio session booked (ridiculous) so it's 6:30 in the morning when Sonny gets there and the first words out of his mouth as he walked up was reefer? As he handed me a doobie! Lol that was the start of an amazing friendship.
Sonny became our alternate sax player for many years and we had all kinds of fun and shenanigans playing throughout Ontario. Sonny always stole the show; he was the most charismatic musician that I've ever shared the stage with. I learned so much about stage presence, professionalism, friendship, and humanity from him.
He introduced us and invited us into the family of legendary Hamilton musicians. Sonny was so supportive of our career, he booked us on bills with Jackie Washington, Ray Materick, Tom Wilson, Harrison Kennedy, Trickbag, Teenage Head, Crowbar, Tim Gibbons, and so many more. He would come to Mike and I's family events and invite us to his. He was family! Sonny will always be the king of Hamilton to us, I love you Sonny. Our deepest condolences to Tammy, Tommy, Lori, April, all his lifetime, bandmates, friends and family, he was loved by so many. Farewell to the king " blow your horn man"
Bill Irvine (Friend)
I'm really sad to hear that Sonny Del-Rio has passed, we had a lot of history over the years. He was a good friend, we worked together for about 5 or six years.
He was a mentor to my son Dean Irvine. He recognized Dean's talent and ambition, included him and his band in all the events he could!! Love that he showed up on Superbowl Sunday (he came to our house for the game for years) at 2 in the afternoon, the game was at 6:30 and I told him that. He told me that he wasn't here to see me lol, he wanted to see Dean. They went downstairs to Dean's practice room and Sonny taught him jazz standards for about 3 hours!! Who does that for a kid???
We were quite close with Sonny and his wife, Faye, dinners etc. Everyone has Sonny stories, he was recognized by the City of Hamilton as 12th most famous person. He was a good man, a great musician who played with everyone, man he could blow that Sax!!! You are already missed by my Anita, Dean and I, your legion of fans and so many friends. RIP pal!!
I left a voicemail for Sonny recently to arrange a visit, then hit the road planning to follow up when I got back, only to receive this sad news. Sonny gave my band Cootes Paradise our first gig and called us “the cooties”. And I’m just remembering that way back when I was a music student in university in the early 80s, I interviewed him for a project, and asked what he soaked his reeds in, and the answer was vodka. What a character. I’ll always love and remember him. Condolences to all of us.
Video above courtesy of Jim Unsworth
Links: We Got Blues, More We Got Blues Stories, Video above courtesy of Chris “#DeaconsTable” Labonville
Links: Sonny Del-Rio. More Sonny Del Rio Stories, Video above courtesy of Hamilton Blues Lovers
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