Daniel Smith "Danny" Chauncey (born June 19, 1956) is an American rock guitarist. He is best known for being a member of the Southern rock band 38 Special.^[1]

Chauncey was born in San Francisco, California and raised in Alameda County, California.^[2] He attended Alameda High School.^[2]

He grew up listening to classical music,^[1] but however, his musical interests changed when he heard the song "Twist and Shout" by The Beatles.^[1] He was then interested in learning to play the guitar, getting his first guitar when he was eight years old.^[1] He also learned to play the French horn in high school.^[1] Also in high school, he played with several rock bands.^[1]

His first instrument was a Stella 6-string cowboy guitar. His first electric was red Gibson SG with a Fender 50w Super Reverb.^{[citation needed]}

In the early-mid-1970s, Chauncey was a member of the Bay Area rock group Mistress,^[1] where he plays lead and rhythm guitar.^[3] In 1977 the group recorded a self-titled album for RSO Records.^[1][3] The album was released two years later, shortly before Mistress disbanded.^[1][3]

He also played in a side band, the Alameda All-Stars with Brad Gillis and Kelly Keagy who were both in the band Night Ranger.^[1][2]

Chauncey left Mistress to join Billy Satellite.^[1] It was with this band that he co-wrote "I Wanna Go Back" which became a hit for Eddie Money.^[4] The band was together for several years and recorded an album, Billy Satellite, for Capital Records.^[4]

While in Billy Satellite, he was a studio musician for Taxxi, an English band that played Euro-tech music.^[1][5] He recorded three albums with Taxxi from 1982 to 1985, including States of Emergency, Foreign Tongue, and Expose.^[5]

In 1987 after the break up of Billy Satellite, Chauncey joined 38 Special, staying with them through 2019.^[1] Chauncey says, "We really hit it off so it felt natural. I was allowed to contribute songwriting from the beginning as 'I Wanna Go Back' was a hit on the charts for Eddie Money around the same time that I joined, so the guys knew I was a capable songwriter."^[1]

He recorded many albums with 38 Special, providing vocals and keyboards in addition to guitar.^[5] He is also the engineer and producer for some of their albums.^[5]

After he left 38 Special, he started playing live shows with Gregg Allman and Friends.^[1]