Doug Fieger, RIP

DOUG FIEGER, the leader of L.A. skinny-tie band The Knack, who rocketed to the top of the charts in 1979 with “My Sharona,” died Sunday in Woodland Hills. He was 57. After being treated for lung cancer, Fieger was diagnosed with brain cancer six years ago, undergoing multiple surgeries to remove two tumors from his brain. Born in Detroit, Fieger moved to Los Angeles and played and recorded in the band the Sunset Bombers before forming the Knack in 1978. He’s the second member of the band to die. Drummer Bruce Gary succumbed to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2006. The Knack’s surviving members are guitarist Berton Averre (co-writer of “My Sharona”) and bassist Prescott Niles. Fieger is survived by his sister, Beth Falkenstein, and brother Geoff, who gained notoriety of his own as the attorney for Jack Kevorkian. A memorial service for friends and family is being planned in L.A. (2/15a)