[1] He is the lead vocalist and keyboardist of the eponymous blues rock band Joe Delia & Thieves,[2] after previously touring as a session and studio musician with Chuck Berry, Pat Benatar, and Stevie Wonder.
Born in Brooklyn, Delia began his career as a teenager in the early sixties, playing piano and singing with his group The Bruthers, who signed to RCA Records and released the 1966 single "Bad Way to Go".
Managed by promoter Sid Bernstein, The Bruthers went on to work as a backup band on tours with rock 'n' roll artists Stevie Wonder, The Crystals, Chuck Berry, Little Eva and the Isley Brothers.
This working relationship continued for over twenty years, resulting in scores for most of Ferrara's body of work, including China Girl, King of New York, Dangerous Game, The Addiction, The Funeral, Subway Stories and The Blackout, on which Delia wrote the original score and collaborated on songs with rap artist Schoolly D. Delia appears as himself in A Short Film About the Long Career of Abel Ferrara,[5] (which is included the Artisan DVD release of King of New York[6]).
Delia's later film scores include Jenniphr Goodman's comedy hit The Tao of Steve, released by Sony Classics; Fever, by Alex Winter; Ricky 6, written and directed by Peter Filardi; A Jersey Tale, by Michael Tolajian; My Best Friend's Wife, by Doug Finelli; Bitter Jester, produced by Richard Belzer; Bridget, by Amos Kollek; the jazz segments for the PBS film Partners of the Heart, by Bill Duke; and Carlito's Way: Rise to Power (a prequel to Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way) directed by Michael Bregman and executive produced by Martin Bregman.
Delia toured internationally with rock singer David Johansen, in the 1980s, producing and co-writing his solo album Sweet Revenge, and continued with the co-creation of the Buster Poindexter Show.