Famous Drummers from the United States
- Stevie Wonder, born Stevland Hardaway Judkins in 1950, is an iconic American musician, singer, and songwriter who has significantly influenced the world of music with his prodigious talents. Born premature and suffering from retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), which led to blindness shortly after birth, Wonder's disability did not deter him from pursuing a career in music. His journey began at a young age when he exhibited exceptional musical talent, playing various instruments such as the piano, harmonica, and drums. Recognizing his potential, Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records, signed him at the tender age of 11. Over the years, Wonder's musical prowess has transcended time and genres, making him one of the most successful and innovative musicians in the second half of the 20th century. He has released numerous hit singles and albums, including "Superstition," "Sir Duke," and "I Just Called to Say I Love You," that have topped charts globally. His album Songs in the Key of Life is often hailed as a masterpiece, showcasing his unique blend of pop, soul, funk, and jazz. Wonder's contributions to music have earned him countless accolades, including an impressive tally of 25 Grammy Awards, cementing his place among music's elite. Beyond his music, Wonder is also renowned for his humanitarian and political activism. He has been instrumental in campaigning for civil rights and against apartheid, demonstrating his commitment to social justice issues. His efforts culminated in the realization of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a national holiday in the United States, following his release of the tribute song "Happy Birthday." Despite the obstacles he faced, Stevie Wonder's life and career are a testament to his resilience, creativity, and unwavering dedication to using his platform to effect positive change.
- Birthplace: Saginaw, Michigan, USA
- 1Superstition568 Votes
- 2Sir Duke428 Votes
3Higher Ground399 Votes
- Despite being a part of a Hollywood legacy, actor Jason Schwartzman squarely earned his own regard as an actor with his knack for thoughtful, melancholy characters with a dry sense of humor. His unique screen presence was apparent from his debut as an oddly adult prep school student in Wes Anderson's "Rushmore" (1998). After the release of that critical darling, he would reteam repeatedly with the director, even co-scripting "The Darjeeling Limited" (2007). Schwartzman also had supporting roles in a mainstream studio films, but his sensibility leaned towards more inventive, character-driven projects like, "I (Heart) Huckabees" (2004), in which he played an idealistic young activist, and "Shopgirl" (2005), Steve Martin's novella adaptation that pitted Schwartzman as a ragtag roadie and aspiring artist against Martin as the sophisticated older man vying for the love of a woman. Schwartzman also found creative success as a musician with the indie band Phantom Planet and as a composer whose work appeared on well-known film and television soundtracks. His first outing as a television cast member was short-lived but he found more success when he was cast in the lead in HBO's "Bored to Death" (HBO, 2009-), a quirky comedy well tailored to the actor's talent for frustrated artists with an offbeat, intellectual charm.
- Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA
- Nick Jonas, born on September 16, 1992, in Dallas, Texas, is a multifaceted artist who has made substantial contributions to the world of music, acting, and philanthropy. His journey into stardom began at a young age when he was discovered singing in a hair salon at seven years old. This event led to his Broadway debut in A Christmas Carol, marking the start of his illustrious career. The Jonas Brothers, a pop-rock band formed by Nick and his older brothers Kevin and Joe, catapulted him to international fame. The band released their first album, It's About Time, in 2006, followed by several other successful albums such as Jonas Brothers, A Little Bit Longer, and Lines, Vines and Trying Times. After the band's disbandment in 2013, Nick continued his musical journey, releasing solo projects like Nick Jonas and Last Year Was Complicated, which established him as a mature, independent artist. The Jonas Brothers reunited in 2019 with the band's single, "Sucker." Beyond music, Jonas has also demonstrated his prowess in acting, starring in TV shows like Scream Queens and Kingdom, and movies like Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. He has also been an active advocate for diabetes awareness, having been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at a young age.
- Birthplace: Dallas, Texas, USA
- Adam Michael Goldstein (March 30, 1973 – August 28, 2009), known professionally as DJ AM, was an American disc jockey (DJ). Born in Philadelphia, Goldstein became interested in deejaying as a child after watching Herbie Hancock perform his 1983 single "Rockit". Goldstein developed a drug addiction as a teenager and was sent to the controversial rehabilitation center Straight, Incorporated. After he left the center, his drug problems became worse; he was addicted to crack cocaine for several years in his early twenties. After he attempted suicide in 1997, Goldstein became sober and later sponsored other addicts through Alcoholics Anonymous. Goldstein began deejaying in clubs in Los Angeles and joined the band Crazy Town in 1999. He left the group in 2001 and focused on a career as a solo DJ. After he began dating Nicole Richie in 2003, his career skyrocketed. In 2006, he accepted a $1 million contract to perform weekly at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas strip and was also charging upwards of $10,000 for private events. In 2008 Goldstein and Travis Barker formed the duo TRV$DJAM. Barker and Goldstein were the only two survivors of the 2008 South Carolina Learjet 60 crash, which killed the other four people on board. Goldstein appeared as himself in several television series, contributed mixes to and portrayed a playable character in the video game DJ Hero, and filmed a cameo appearance for Iron Man 2. Goldstein hosted the 2009 MTV drug intervention series Gone Too Far, and he appeared to be struggling with his addiction during filming. On August 28, 2009, he was found dead in his New York City apartment from a drug overdose. The DJ AM Memorial Fund, an organization designed to help people struggling with drug addiction, was launched in his memory by his sister, and Iron Man 2, which was released in 2010, was dedicated to him.
- Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Lars Ulrich, best known as the founding member and drummer of the globally renowned heavy metal band Metallica, was born in Denmark in 1963. The son of professional tennis player Torben Ulrich, Lars initially walked in his father's footsteps and played tennis at a competitive level in his youth. However, his life took an unexpected turn after he attended a Deep Purple concert at the tender age of nine. The experience ignited a deep passion for music in him that eventually led to the inception of one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Moving to Los Angeles in the early '80s, Ulrich placed an ad in the local newspaper looking for like-minded musicians to form a band. This ad caught the attention of James Hetfield, marking the beginning of Metallica. Ulrich's aggressive drumming style and songwriting contributions have been integral to the band's evolution and success. With over 100 million records sold worldwide, the band's popularity has soared over the decades due predominantly to classics such as "Master of Puppets," "Enter Sandman," and "Nothing Else Matters," which Ulrich co-wrote. In addition to his career with Metallica, Ulrich made significant contributions to the music industry as a whole. He was one of the leading figures who campaigned against Napster, a peer-to-peer file sharing platform, arguing it violated copyright laws. This move sparked a heated debate on digital music rights, reshaping the music industry's approach to online content distribution. Ulrich also acted in several films, including HBO's Hemingway & Gellhorn and the critically acclaimed movie Get Him to the Greek. His passion, dedication, and relentless pursuit of his craft have undoubtedly cemented his legacy as an influential figure in the world of heavy metal music.
- Birthplace: Copenhagen, Gentofte Municipality, Denmark
- Dave Grohl, born David Eric Grohl on January 14, 1969, in Warren, Ohio, is a multi-talented musician credited with making significant contributions to the rock music genre. Before establishing himself as a prominent figure in the music industry, Grohl dropped out of high school at 17 to play drums for the punk band Scream, which marked the beginning of his illustrious career. However, he is best known for his role as the drummer of the iconic grunge band Nirvana and later as the frontman of the Foo Fighters. Grohl joined Nirvana in 1990, and his powerful drumming style was instrumental in shaping the band's sound, leading to their breakthrough album, Nevermind, in 1991. Despite the band's monumental success, it was short-lived due to the tragic death of lead singer Kurt Cobain in 1994. After Cobain's passing, Grohl experienced a period of uncertainty, but he eventually emerged from this difficult time with a renewed sense of purpose. He went on to form the Foo Fighters, where he transitioned from behind the drums to take center stage as the lead vocalist and guitarist. Over the years, Grohl has demonstrated his versatility as a musician, not only through his ability to seamlessly switch between instruments but also in his knack for blending different musical styles. His work with the Foo Fighters has resulted in numerous chart-topping hits and Grammy Awards, solidifying his status as one of rock's most influential figures. Additionally, Grohl's passion for music extends beyond performing; he directed the acclaimed documentary Sound City in 2013 and the HBO series Sonic Highways in 2014, showcasing his abilities as a storyteller and filmmaker. Dave Grohl's profound impact on music, combined with his relentless drive and creative versatility, cements his legacy as a true rock legend.
- Birthplace: Warren, Ohio, USA
- Adam Brody is a renowned actor who made his mark in the entertainment industry primarily through television and film. Born on December 15, 1979, in San Diego, California, he was inclined towards a career in Hollywood from an early age. After completing high school, Brody relocated to Hollywood, kickstarting his acting career which would later see him becoming a popular name in both television and film. Brody's breakthrough came with the role of Seth Cohen in the television series The O.C., which aired from 2003 to 2007. His portrayal of an adorably geeky outsider won him widespread acclaim, catapulting him into the spotlight and establishing him as a gifted actor. Over the course of his career, he appeared in a range of other television shows, including Gilmore Girls and Billy & Billie. But it was his standout performances in films like Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Thank You for Smoking, and In the Land of Women that further solidified his position in Hollywood. Beyond his acting pursuits, Brody has also showcased his talents behind the scenes. He co-wrote the comic book miniseries Red Menace and produced Some Girls, proving his versatility within the entertainment industry. He has garnered several awards and nominations for his work, including a Teen Choice Award for his performance in The O.C. In his personal life, Brody is married to fellow actor Leighton Meester, and they have two children together. Adam Brody's unwavering dedication to his craft and his remarkable range of skills continue to make him a formidable presence in the entertainment world.
- Birthplace: San Diego, California, USA
- Travis Barker, a name synonymous with the punk rock scene of the early 2000s, has established himself as one of the most influential drummers of his generation. Born on November 14, 1975, in Fontana, California, Barker was introduced to the drums at an early age and was actively involved in marching bands during his high school years. This early exposure laid the foundation for what would become an illustrious career in music, spanning over two decades. Barker's monumental rise to fame began when he joined the well-known punk rock band, Blink-182, in 1998. His fast-paced, intricate drumming style quickly caught the attention of fans and critics alike, propelling the band to international acclaim. With Blink-182, Barker produced multiple chart-topping albums, including the multi-platinum Enema of the State and Take Off Your Pants and Jacket. However, his musical pursuits didn't stop there. Barker also co-founded the rock bands +44 and Box Car Racer, further expanding his influence within the genre. Amidst his musical endeavors, Barker's life has been marked by personal trials and triumphs. In 2008, he survived a tragic plane crash which took the lives of four others, leading him to reevaluate his life and priorities. Despite these challenges, Barker continues to inspire millions with his resilience and unyielding passion for music. Beyond his contributions to the music industry, Barker has also made his mark in the business world as the founder of clothing company Famous Stars and Straps, and record label LaSalle Records.
- Birthplace: Fontana, California, USA
- The scion of the Escovedo musical dynasty, which included her father Pete Escovedo and uncle Alejandro, Sheila E.'s most frequent collaborator was the rock icon Prince. She began performing as a teenager alongside her father and uncle in their Latin funk band Azteca, before working as a session player for Marvin Gaye and George Duke. She finally stepped into the spotlight with her Top 30 solo debut, The Glamorous Life (1984), which produced a Top 10 single in the title track, a sultry paean to decadent living penned by Prince that meshed well with the high-gloss, high-drama funk of his Purple Rain period. Her reputation as a show-stopping performer also led to stints with Ringo Starr, Herbie Hancock and Gloria Estefan, as well as forays into television, most notably as bandleader for Magic Johnson's short-lived talk show "The Magic Hour" (Fox, 1998). Sheila E.'s percussive skills garnered great respect from some of the biggest names in the music industry.
- Birthplace: Oakland, California, USA
- Jack White, born as John Anthony Gillis on July 9, 1975, in Detroit, Michigan, is a multitalented musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer renowned for his distinctive style that spans multiple genres. Raised in a large family with ten siblings, White discovered his passion for music early in life, playing various instruments before focusing on the guitar. His musical journey began in earnest in the 1990s when he played drums for the punk band Goober & the Peas. White gained international acclaim as the lead vocalist and guitarist of The White Stripes, a rock duo he co-founded with his then-wife, Meg White. The pair released six studio albums, with their third album, White Blood Cells, and its single "Fell in Love with a Girl" propelling them to worldwide fame. Their raw, minimalist sound, characterized by Jack's powerful guitar work and Meg's primal drumming, was instrumental in reviving garage rock in the early 2000s. Following The White Stripes' disbandment in 2011, White embarked on a successful solo career, releasing three chart-topping albums and earning numerous Grammy nominations. In addition to his performing career, White is an accomplished record producer and the founder of Third Man Records, a label that champions vinyl records and has a roster of diverse artists. He has been a tireless advocate for analog technology in an increasingly digital world, preserving the warmth and authenticity of music recorded and played on physical media. Known for his relentless creativity and innovative approach to music, White has collaborated with a variety of artists across different genres, further solidifying his status as one of the most influential musicians of his generation.
- Birthplace: Detroit, Michigan, USA
- 1Ball And Biscuit109 Votes
- 2Seven Nation Army113 Votes
- 3Steady As She Goes89 Votes
Lex van den Berghe
Age: 61- Birthplace: Palo Alto, California, USA
- Edwin Thomas Shaughnessy (January 29, 1929 – May 24, 2013) was a swing music and jazz drummer long associated with Doc Severinsen and a member of The Tonight Show Band on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
- Birthplace: Jersey City, New Jersey
- Thomas Richard Christy Jr. (born April 1, 1974) is an American drummer, radio personality and actor, best known for being the former drummer for several heavy metal bands since the early 1990s, most notably Death, and his tenure on The Howard Stern Show. Born and raised in Kansas, Christy took an interest in rock and heavy metal music in his youth, and started playing the drums at age ten. He played in several bands while at school. Christy's music career began in 1992 when he joined the Springfield, Missouri group Public Assassin, and also worked as an electrician. In 1996, Christy formed Burning Inside and relocated to Orlando, Florida, where he joined and toured with several popular heavy metal bands until 2004, including Acheron, Death, Control Denied, Iced Earth, and Leash Law. In 2004, Christy took a break from music and relocated to New York City to join The Howard Stern Show. He has written, directed, and acted in several home made independent films and has performed as a stand-up comedian. He returned to music in 2009 when he formed his own metal band, Charred Walls of the Damned.
- Birthplace: USA, Kansas, Fort Scott
- Michael Louis Diamond (born November 20, 1965), better known as Mike D, is an American rapper and founding member of the hip hop group the Beastie Boys. Diamond raps, sings, and plays drums. He has provided remixes for Moby and Björk.
- Birthplace: New York City, USA, New York
- Fred Armisen is a multifaceted talent who wears many hats in the world of entertainment. Born on December 4, 1966, he is known primarily for his comedic prowess, but his body of work extends to music, voice acting, and writing, demonstrating his versatility. He carries with him a rich heritage being of German and Japanese descent from his mother's side and Venezuelan from his father's side. This diversity has been reflected in his wide range of characters and impersonations, adding depth and dimension to his performances. Armisen's journey into the spotlight began as a drummer in the punk rock band Trenchmouth in the late 80s and early 90s. However, his love for comedy led him to transition his career towards entertainment. His breakthrough came when he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL) in 2002. Over the years, Armisen brought numerous unforgettable characters to life on SNL, showcasing a unique brand of humor that earned him an Emmy nomination. His stint with SNL lasted till 2013, making him one of the longest-serving cast members in the show's history. Beyond SNL, Armisen has made significant contributions to television. He co-created, co-wrote, and starred in the critically acclaimed series Portlandia alongside Carrie Brownstein, for which he received several Primetime Emmy nominations. He also pioneered the mockumentary style series Documentary Now!, displaying his flair for parody and satire. Additionally, Armisen has demonstrated his range by lending his voice to various animated series and flaunting his musical chops as the bandleader for the Late Night with Seth Meyers' 8G Band. Armisen's successful and diverse career stands as a testament to his boundless creativity and enduring appeal.
- Birthplace: Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA
- Dennis Carl Wilson (December 4, 1944 – December 28, 1983) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best remembered as their drummer and as the middle brother of bandmates Brian and Carl Wilson. Dennis was the only true surfer in the Beach Boys, and his personal life exemplified the "California Myth" that the band's early songs often celebrated. He was also known for his brief association with Charles Manson, a songwriter later convicted of several murders, and for co-starring in the 1971 film Two-Lane Blacktop. Wilson served mainly on drums and backing vocals for the Beach Boys, and contrary to popular belief, his playing can be heard on many of the group's hits. He originally had few lead vocals on the band's songs, but starting with their 1968 album Friends, his prominence as a singer-songwriter increased. Unlike Brian's music, Dennis' is characterized for reflecting his "edginess" and "little of his happy charm". His original songs for the group included "Little Bird" (1968), "Forever" (1970), and "Slip On Through" (1970). Friends and biographers also say that Wilson was an uncredited writer on "You Are So Beautiful", a hit for Joe Cocker in 1974. During his final years, Wilson struggled with substance addictions that contributed to tensions with his bandmates. His only solo album, Pacific Ocean Blue (1977), was released to warm reviews, but moderate sales." Sessions for a follow-up, Bambu, disintegrated before his death. In 1988, Wilson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Beach Boys. He died from drowning at the age of 39 in 1983.
- Birthplace: Inglewood, California, USA
- Karen Carpenter, a name etched in the annals of music history, was an iconic American singer and drummer who carved out a space for herself and her brother Richard in the Pop industry during the 1970s. Born on March 2, 1950, in New Haven, Connecticut, Karen's enchanting journey into the world of music commenced at a young age, with her distinctively soft contralto vocals quickly gaining attention from music enthusiasts. Recognized for her unique vocal style, Karen, alongside her brother Richard, formed The Carpenters, which went on to become one of the most successful groups during that era. Their mesmerizing melodies transcended genre lines and captured hearts worldwide. Some of their most notable hits include "We've Only Just Begun," "Close to You," and "Top of the World". Karen's skills extended beyond singing, as she was also a talented drummer. Her drumming prowess was often overshadowed by her angelic voice but was nonetheless appreciated by musicians and critics alike. Unfortunately, Karen's journey was fraught with personal struggles as well. She battled anorexia nervosa, a little-understood illness at the time, which led to her untimely death on February 4, 1983, at the age of 32. Despite her relatively short career, Karen Carpenter's profound impact on pop music remains undeniable. Her legacy continues to inspire generations of musicians and fans, cementing her status as a timeless icon in the music industry.
- Birthplace: USA, Connecticut, New Haven
- John Paul Densmore (born December 1, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, author and actor. He is best known as the drummer of the rock band the Doors, and as such is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He appeared on every recording made by the band. Densmore is also noted for his veto of attempts by the other two Doors members, in the wake of singer Jim Morrison's 1971 death, to accept offers to license the rights to various Doors songs for commercial purposes, as well as his objections to their use in the 21st century of the Doors name and logo. Densmore's lengthy court battles to gain compliance with his veto ended with total victory for him and his allies in the Morrison estate. Densmore has worked additionally in the performing arts as a dancer and actor, and written successfully as both a playwright and the author of two books on the topic of the Doors. The many honors he shares with the other Doors include a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- Birthplace: Los Angeles, USA, California
- Steven Adler (born Michael Coletti; January 22, 1965) is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer and co-songwriter of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s. Adler was fired from Guns N' Roses over his heroin addiction in 1990, following which he reformed his old band Road Crew and briefly joined BulletBoys, which both proved unsuccessful. During the 2000s, Adler was the drummer of the band Adler's Appetite, and from 2012, he had held the same position in the band Adler. In early 2017, he declared that he has no intention to continue with the band and that the band has now dissolved, with the reason being his lack of interest in performing during poorly attended concerts. He appeared on the second and fifth seasons of the reality TV show Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, as well as on the first season of its spin-off Sober House. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Guns N' Roses.
- Birthplace: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
- Jaclyn Roxane Chan (born December 2, 1980), also known simply as Jacki R. Chan or Jacki Chan, is an American actress, musician, and Model. She has appeared in various magazines, calendars and print ads, as well as several motion pictures, television shows, and commercials. She is niece to Hollywood stuntman Darryl Chan.Formerly under the Universal Music Group label, she is also an experienced drummer who has been featured in several films, commercials, television spots, and music videos.
- Birthplace: USA, California, San Francisco
- With his distinctive look -- over six feet and 300 pounds, with thick, black-rimmed glasses, a full beard and a hairstyle untamed by the Afro-Pick he habitually kept stuck in it -- Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson became one of the most immediately recognizable figures in hip-hop, working as the drummer and musical director of The Roots. When The Roots became the house band on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon," Questlove found a new audience for his cool yet cerebral style, which only expanded when Fallon and The Roots took over "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" (NBC 2014- ).
- Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Richard Allan Ream (born August 8, 1961), better known by the stage name Rikki Rockett, is an American drummer for glam metal band Poison. The band has sold more than 45 million records worldwide and 15 million records in the United States alone.
- Birthplace: Mechanicsburg, USA, Pennsylvania
- Joseph Patrick "Joe" Escalante (born January 30, 1963) is an American television writer, musician, radio host, film and music video director, amateur torero, and former television executive. He is most widely known as the bassist for the punk rock band The Vandals, and former owner of their record label Kung Fu Records, and the host of Joe Escalante, Live from Hollywood, on the Los Angeles/Orange County radio station KEIB 1150AM Sundays 5-7PM PST.
- Birthplace: USA, Long Beach, California
- Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the vocalists for the Band. Helm was known for his deeply soulful, country-accented voice, multi-instrumental ability, and creative drumming style, highlighted on many of the Band's recordings, such as "The Weight", "Up on Cripple Creek", and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". Helm also had a successful career as a film actor, appearing as Loretta Lynn's father in Coal Miner's Daughter, as Chuck Yeager's friend and colleague Captain Jack Ridley in The Right Stuff, and as a Tennessee firearms expert in Shooter. In 1998, Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer, which caused him to lose his singing voice. After treatment, his cancer eventually went into remission, and he gradually regained the use of his voice. His 2007 comeback album Dirt Farmer earned the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in February 2008, and in November of that year, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him No. 91 in its list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. In 2010, Electric Dirt, his 2009 follow-up to Dirt Farmer, won the first Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, a category inaugurated in 2010. In 2011, his live album Ramble at the Ryman won the Grammy in the same category. On April 17, 2012, his wife and daughter announced on Helm's website that he was "in the final stages of his battle with cancer" and thanked fans while requesting prayers. Two days later, Helm died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
- Birthplace: USA, Elaine, Arkansas
- Patrick Stump, born on April 27, 1984, is best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Grammy-nominated rock band Fall Out Boy. He gained widespread recognition in the mid-2000s with the band's breakthrough album "From Under the Cork Tree" (2005), which included hits like "Sugar, We're Goin Down." Stump's versatile voice and unique sound helped propel Fall Out Boy to major success, with subsequent albums like "Infinity on High" (2007) and "Save Rock and Roll" (2013) topping charts worldwide. In addition to his work with the band, Stump pursued a solo career, releasing his album "Soul Punk" in 2011. Beyond music, Stump has contributed to various TV and film soundtracks, including songs for "Sesame Street" (HBO, 2020-), "Sick Girl" (2023) and "Hot Wheels Let's Race" (Netflix, 2024-). He has also made guest appearances on shows such as "Law & Order" (NBC, 1990-2010), "House" (Fox, 2004-2012) and "Family Guy" (FOX, 1999-). Patrick continues to be an influential figure in the pop-punk and alternative rock scenes.
- Birthplace: Evanston, Illinois, USA
- Joshua Michael Homme ( HOM-ee; born May 17, 1973) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and actor. He is the founder, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, which he formed in 1996 and in which he sings lead vocals and plays guitar, as well as occasionally playing bass, piano, and drums. He also co-founded Eagles of Death Metal in 1998, playing drums for their studio recordings and occasionally performing live with them. Homme was formerly the co-founder and guitarist of the stoner rock band Kyuss from 1987 to 1995. He has produced a musical improv series with other musicians (mostly from the Palm Desert Scene) known as The Desert Sessions since 1997. He formed a new project in 2009 called Them Crooked Vultures with Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones, releasing their self-titled debut album later that year. In 2016, he produced, co-wrote, and performed on the Iggy Pop album Post Pop Depression. He has also been involved with acts such as Foo Fighters and Arctic Monkeys.
- Birthplace: Joshua Tree, USA, California
- Andrew John Hurley (born May 31, 1980) is an American musician. He is the drummer for the rock band Fall Out Boy. Prior to Fall Out Boy, Hurley played in several hardcore punk bands. He joined Fall Out Boy as the full-time drummer in 2003 and was in the band's lineup until its hiatus in 2009. Following that, he formed the heavy metal supergroup The Damned Things with Fall Out Boy guitarist Joe Trohman; the group went on hiatus after its debut album, Ironiclast (2010), due to band members focusing on their original bands' new album cycles. Hurley moved on to hardcore punk band Enabler which released a debut album and toured in 2012. Fall Out Boy regrouped and announced a new album and tour on February 4, 2013. The band's fifth studio album, Save Rock and Roll, was released April 16, 2013, with the punk EP PAX AM Days announced on September 30 and was released on October 15 the same year. The band's sixth studio album American Beauty/American Psycho was released on January 16, 2015 and debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200.
- Birthplace: USA, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
- Former child actor Micky Dolenz bloomed into one of the most popular teen idols of the 1960s as drummer and frequent lead vocalist of the Monkees, who successfully made the leap from characters on their eponymous television series (NBC, 1966-69) to an actual chart-topping pop act. Quick-witted and boundlessly energetic, Dolenz garnered the lion's shares of the laughs, in addition to singing some of the group's biggest hits, including "I'm a Believer," "Pleasant Valley Sunday," "Last Train to Clarksville" and many others. Like most of his bandmates, Dolenz fell on hard times after the show and band collapsed in the mid-1970s, but he quickly rebounded as a television director in England. In the late 1980s, a new wave of Monkee-mania gripped America, spurring Dolenz to reunite with his former musical partners for a string of successful tours. Some four decades after the Monkees' initial heyday, Micky Dolenz remained the band's most enthusiastic and accessible member, as well as one of the most accomplished outside of the pop-rock realm.
- Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA
- 311 (pronounced "three-eleven") is an American rock band from Omaha, Nebraska. The band was formed in 1988 by vocalist and guitarist Nick Hexum, lead guitarist Jim Watson (a member briefly, before being replaced by Tim Mahoney in 1990), bassist Aaron "P-Nut" Wills, and drummer Chad Sexton. In 1992, Doug "SA" Martinez joined to sing and provide turntables for 311's later albums. 311 has released thirteen studio albums, two live albums, four compilation albums, four EPs and four DVDs. After a series of independent releases, 311 was signed to Capricorn Records in 1992 and released the albums Music (1993) and Grassroots (1994) to moderate success. They achieved greater success with their 1995 triple platinum self-titled album, which reached number 12 on the Billboard 200 on the strength of the singles "Down" and "All Mixed Up", the former of which topped the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks in 1996. The band's next three albums—Transistor (1997), Soundsystem (1999) and From Chaos (2001)—were also successful, with the first going platinum and the last two going gold. Their 2004 compilation album Greatest Hits '93–'03 was also certified platinum. The band's most recent studio album is 2019's Voyager. As of 2011, 311 has sold over 8.5 million records in the United States.The band's name originates from the police code for indecent exposure in Omaha, Nebraska, after the original guitarist for the band was arrested for streaking.
- Birthplace: Lexington, Kentucky
- Hanson is an American pop rock band from Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, formed by brothers Isaac (guitar, piano, vocals), Taylor (keyboards, vocals), and Zac (drums, vocals). Supporting members include Dimitrius Collins (guitar), and Andrew Perusi (bass) who have toured and performed live with the band since 2007. They are best known for the 1997 hit song "MMMBop" from their debut album released through Mercury/Polygram Records, entitled Middle of Nowhere, which earned three Grammy nominations. The group's label Mercury Records was merged with its sister labels and the band was moved to Island Def Jam Music Group. After releasing one album on Island Def Jam, the label and the group parted ways. Hanson has sold over 16 million records worldwide and have had three Top 20 albums in the US. They have had three Top 20 US Hot 100 singles and eight UK Top 20 singles. The band now records under its own independent record label, 3CG Records.
- Birthplace: USA, Virginia
- Cedric Bixler-Zavala (born November 4, 1974) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and lyricist of the Grammy Award-winning progressive rock band The Mars Volta and the only constant member of the post-hardcore group At the Drive-In, for which he is the lead singer and occasional guitarist. He is also the lead singer of the band Antemasque, and sings and plays guitar in his band Zavalaz.
- Birthplace: USA, California, Redwood City
- Thomas Erdelyi (born Tamás Erdélyi; January 29, 1949 – July 11, 2014), known professionally as Tommy Ramone, was a Hungarian American record producer, musician, and songwriter. He was the drummer for the influential punk rock band the Ramones for the first four years of the band's existence and was the last surviving original member of the Ramones.
- Birthplace: Budapest, Hungary
- Marvin "Smitty" Smith (born June 24, 1961) is an American jazz drummer and composer. Marvin Smith was born in Waukegan, Illinois, where his father, Marvin Sr., was a drummer. "Smitty" was exposed to music at a young age, receiving formal musical training at the age of three. After graduating from Waukegan East High School, Smith attended College of Lake County from 1983 to 1985 as a member of their Jazz Ensemble after graduating class of 1981 Berklee, has recorded 200 albums with various artists, as well as two solo albums. He also has toured with Sting, Dave Holland, Sonny Rollins, Willie Nelson and with Steve Coleman. He is a former member of The New York Jazz Quartet, and drummer under fellow Berklee alum and Musical Director Kevin Eubanks, for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from January 30, 1995 to the show's end on May 29, 2009 and the start of the second incarnation, The Jay Leno Show, March 1, 2010.
- Birthplace: Waukegan, USA, Illinois
- Shelton Hank Williams (born December 12, 1972), known as Hank Williams III and Hank 3, is an American musician, singer and multi-instrumentalist, known for his dark style of country music. However, his musical style alternates between country, punk rock and metal. He is the principal member of the punk metal band Assjack, the drummer for the Southern hardcore punk band Arson Anthem, and was the bassist for Pantera singer Phil Anselmo's band Superjoint Ritual. He has released eleven studio albums, including five for Curb Records. Williams is the grandson of Hank Williams, the son of Hank Williams Jr., the nephew of Jett Williams, and the half-brother of Holly Williams.
- Birthplace: Tennessee, Nashville, USA
- Michael McDonald (born February 12, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter, keyboardist, and record producer known for his distinctive, soulful voice and as a member of the bands The Doobie Brothers (1975-1982, 1987) and Steely Dan (1974). McDonald wrote and sang several hit singles with The Doobie Brothers, including “What a Fool Believes,” “Minute By Minute,” and “Takin' It to the Streets.” McDonald has also performed as a prominent backing vocalist on numerous recordings by artists like Steely Dan, Christopher Cross, and Kenny Loggins. He is considered an influential figure in the development of the yacht rock genre. McDonald's solo career consists of nine studio albums and a number of singles, including the 1982 hit "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)." During his career, McDonald has collaborated with a number of other artists, including James Ingram, David Cassidy, Van Halen, Patti LaBelle, Lee Ritenour, the Winans, Aretha Franklin, Toto, Grizzly Bear, Joni Mitchell, and Thundercat. He has also recorded for television and film soundtracks. McDonald is the recipient of five Grammy Awards.
- Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- James Owen Sullivan (February 9, 1981 – December 28, 2009), professionally known by his stage name The Rev (shortened version of The Reverend Tholomew Plague), was an American musician, best known as the drummer, songwriter, backing vocalist and founding member of the American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. The Rev was widely regarded and critically acclaimed for his work on Avenged Sevenfold albums, and contributed entire songs composed by himself, such as "Afterlife", "A Little Piece of Heaven", and "Almost Easy". He was also the lead vocalist/pianist in Pinkly Smooth, a side project where he was known by the name Rathead, with fellow Avenged Sevenfold member, guitarist Synyster Gates (Brian Elwin Haner Jr.), and he was the drummer for Suburban Legends from 1998 to 1999.
- Birthplace: Huntington Beach, USA, California
- Maureen Ann "Moe" Tucker (born August 26, 1944) is an American musician and singer best known for having been the drummer for the New York City-based rock band the Velvet Underground.
- Birthplace: USA, Levittown, New York
- Rachel Sage Piña-Trachtenburg, professionally known as Rachel Trachtenburg, is an American musician and singer. Trachtenburg is most notable for her key role as drummer and backup vocalist of the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, a family band consisting of herself and her parents, Jason and Tina, from 2000 to 2011. Trachtenburg was also lead singer of the band Supercute! from 2009 to 2013, and is currently the guitarist and vocalist for New York-based trio Wooing. In addition, Trachtenburg is also a model, signed to Elite Model Management, a radio talk show host for Gary Null's Progressive Radio Network, an actress who appeared in indie movies Happy Birthday in 2004, Ruchiki in 2011 and Exteriors in 2014 as well as a television pilot for an unaired children's TV show titled Rachel Trachtenburg's Homemade World in 2009.
- Birthplace: USA, Washington, Seattle
- Frank Anthony Thomas Iero, Jr. (born October 31, 1981) is an American musician who was the rhythm guitarist and backup vocalist of the rock band My Chemical Romance and post-hardcore band Leathermouth. He has a solo punk rock project titled Frank Iero and the Future Violents (formerly frnkiero andthe cellabration and Frank Iero and the Patience). He released his debut solo album titled Stomachaches on August 26, 2014.
- Birthplace: Belleville, New Jersey
- Paul Charles Caravello (July 12, 1950 – November 24, 1991) better known by his stage name Eric Carr, was an American musician and multi-instrumentalist who was the drummer for the rock band Kiss from 1980 to 1991. Caravello was selected as the new Kiss drummer after Peter Criss departed, when he chose the stage name "Eric Carr" and took up The Fox persona. He remained a member of Kiss until his death from heart cancer on November 24, 1991, at the age of 41.
- Birthplace: New York City, USA, New York
- Behind the knit cap, wire-frame glasses, and gee-whiz enthusiasm of Radar O'Reilly, company clerk of the 4077th M*A*S*H unit, was the lesser-known actor, Gary Burghoff. He was recognized by cable-watching audiences mainly for his role on the TV series "M*A*S*H" (CBS, 1972-79) and his appearances in vacation time share infomercials, neither of which hinted at his depths as a prolific painter, musician, stage actor, inventor, and animal rights champion with a seemingly endless supply of creative energy and compassion.
- Birthplace: Bristol, Connecticut, USA
- A powerhouse in the world of jazz and big band music, Buddy Rich was hailed as one of the most influential and skilled drummers of all time. Born Bernard Rich in Brooklyn, New York, in 1917, his musical journey began at an early age with vaudeville performances, blossoming into a career that spanned over seven decades. Dubbed "Traps the Drum Wonder" as a child for his exceptional talent, he evolved beyond the persona to become a respected figure in the music industry. Rich's career trajectory was nothing short of impressive. At the tender age of 15, he started playing with notable jazz musicians, which led to collaborations with major orchestras, including those led by Artie Shaw and Tommy Dorsey. His virtuoso technique, combined with a flamboyant showmanship, brought a new flair to the art of drumming. Despite being self-taught, Rich's musicality was highly regarded, earning him accolades and cementing his place among the greats of jazz and big band music. However, Buddy Rich wasn't just a drummer; he was also a successful bandleader with several popular bands bearing his name. Throughout his career, he helmed various ensembles, thereby showcasing his versatility not only as a musician but as a leader too. He remained active in the music scene until his passing in 1987, leaving behind a remarkable legacy that continues to inspire future generations of drummers and musicians alike. His life and work serve as a testament to his dedication to his craft and his undying passion for music.
- Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, USA
- Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician and actor, best known as the drummer, co-founder, and de facto leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of the group's bassist John "Mac" McVie to form the name of the band, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Born in Redruth, Cornwall, Fleetwood lived in Egypt and Norway for much of his childhood years as his father travelled with the Royal Air Force. Choosing to follow his musical interests, Fleetwood travelled to London at the age of 15, eventually combining with Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer and Bob Brunning, at Green's behest, to become the first incarnation of Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood would remain the only member to stay with the band through its ever-changing line-up. After several album releases and line-up changes, the group moved to the United States in 1974 in an attempt to boost the band's success. Here Fleetwood invited Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks to join. Buckingham and Nicks contributed to much of Fleetwood Mac's later commercial success, including the celebrated album Rumours, while Fleetwood's own determination to keep the band together was essential to the band's longevity. He has also enjoyed a solo career, published written works, and flirted briefly with acting and vinification, as well as opened blues-themed restaurants in Alexandria, Virginia and Hawaii.
- Birthplace: England, Redruth
- Grant Vernon Hart (March 18, 1961 – September 13, 2017) was an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-songwriter for the alternative rock and hardcore punk band Hüsker Dü. After the band's breakup in 1988, he formed the alternative rock trio Nova Mob, where he moved to vocals and guitar. His solo career became his main focus after the dissolution of Nova Mob in 1997. As the co-songwriter of Hüsker Dü, Hart's songs (such as "The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill" and "Turn on the News") received praise from critics and contemporaries. His vocal style, in contrast to that of Hüsker Dü bandmate Bob Mould, had a more measured and melodic delivery. His choice of lyrical themes, which ranged from teenage alienation in "Standing by the Sea" and the depiction of a murder in "Diane," to playful story-telling in "Books About UFOs," helped to expand the subject matter of hardcore punk. Hart died on September 13, 2017 of complications from liver cancer and Hepatitis C.
- Birthplace: Saint Paul, Minnesota
- James Joseph Chamberlin (born June 10, 1964) is an American drummer and record producer. He is best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. Following the 2000 breakup of the band, Chamberlin joined Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan in the supergroup Zwan and also formed his own group, the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex. In 2005, Chamberlin joined Corgan in reforming The Smashing Pumpkins; he eventually left the group in March 2009, though he returned again in 2015 for a summer tour. He performed in the group Skysaw until 2012. He is currently active under the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex name. In addition to his current work as CEO, Chamberlin has joined Chicago jazz saxophonist Frank Catalano for a string of 2013–15 performances in the Chicago area. An EP by Catalano and Chamberlin Love Supreme Collective - EP was released on July 29, 2014. Chamberlin, who originally trained as a jazz drummer, cites jazz musicians Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Gene Krupa, and Buddy Rich, as well as rock drummers Keith Moon, Ian Paice, and John Bonham as major influences on his technique. While he is known as "one of the most powerful drummers in rock," he primarily strives for emotionally communicative playing. In 2008, Gigwise named Chamberlin the 5th best drummer of all time. In 2016, Rolling Stone ranked Jimmy Chamberlin 53 on their list of "100 Greatest Drummers Of All Time".
- Birthplace: USA, Joliet, Illinois
- Zakir Hussain was an actor who had a successful Hollywood career. Hussain worked on a variety of projects during his early entertainment career, including "Apocalypse Now" with Marlon Brando (1979), "Gang Related" (1997) and "Heat and Dust" (1983) starring Julie Christie. He also contributed to "In Custody" (1994), "Little Buddha" (1994) starring Keanu Reeves and "The Perfect Murder" (1990). In the early 2000s, Hussain devoted his time to various credits, such as "Everybody Says I'm Fine!" (2003) starring Rehaan Engineer, "Mr. and Mrs. Iyer" with Rahul Bose (2003) and "One Dollar Curry" with Smriti Mishra (2004). He also worked on "James" (2005). Film continued to be his passion as he played roles in "World Cupp 2011" (2009) with Ravi Kapoor, the foreign "Phoonk 2" (2010) with Sudeep and the foreign "Satrangee Parachute" (2011) with Jackie Shroff. He also appeared in "Shagird" (2011) with Nana Patekar and "Not A Love Story" (2011) with Mahie Gill. Hussain most recently acted in the R Madhavan sports drama "Saala Khadoos" (2016).
- Birthplace: Bombay, State of Bombay, India
- David Robinson (born April 2, 1949) is an American rock drummer. He has performed with many rock bands including the Rising Tide, the Modern Lovers, the Pop!, DMZ and the Cars. In 2018, Robinson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Cars.
- Birthplace: USA, Massachusetts, Woburn
- Todd Rundgren was one of rock's eternal mavericks and cult figures. Born in Phildelphia, he absorbed a variety of music growing up and was particularly fond of the Beatles, Philadelphia soul, and Gilbert & Sullivan-all three of which would inform his work in the future. After a couple of garage outfits, he formed his first major band Nazz in 1967.Setting a pattern for Rundgren's career, they got more insider praise than commercial success. The Nazz were best known for a double A-sided single, "Open My Eyes"/"Hello It's Me"-the first a Who-sounding rocker, the second a soul ballad that he'd later recut with more success. As the '60s ended, Rundgren signed with influential manager Albert Grossman who built his Bearsville label around him, promoting Rundgren as a multi-talented whiz kid. He began a prolific career as a record producer-early landmarks included the Band's Stage Fright, Badfinger's Straight Up (on which he took over for George Harrison), and the first sessions for Janis Joplin's Pearl. Meanwhile he launched his solo career-first under the band name Runt, then as a soloist who could play every instrument. The 1972 double album Something/Anything? had a wealth of finely crafted pop songs, with Rundgren playing everything on three sides (the fourth including the hit, live-in-studio remake of "Hello It's Me"). Setting another career pattern, he followed this much-admired album with a major departure: 1973's A Wizard/A True Star was a kaleidoscopic mind-trip with many short songs in a 55-minute collage. Soon afterward he formed Utopia, initially a high-chops progressive band (with Rundgren on lead guitar) that played like a pop version of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. His studio concepts got more ambitious; 1975's Initiation, largely about his discovery of Eastern spirituality, was at 68 minutes one of the longest single LPs of all time. He continued his production career, producing a punk landmark in the New York Dolls' debut, a mainstream hit in Grand Funk's We're an American Band, and a commercial blockbuster in Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell (which he also financed, its profits subsidizing many of his future projects). Utopia gradually became more of a pop-oriented group and had the occasional hit, notably 1979's "Set Me Free" (written and sung by bassist Kasim Sulton). He also embraced technology like few others, as one of the first rockers to explore video and to direct his own clips, and later to invest in computer technology. Not all of his concepts caught on: In 1993 he became convinced that interactive music was the future, and made an album, No World Order, that could play thousands of different ways on a Mac computer. He also briefly sang in a failed relaunch of The Cars without leader Ric Ocasek and wrote the music for an off-Broadway show, Up Against It. Through it all Rundgren continued with productions (XTC's Skylarking was a creative peak, despite his tense relationship with that band) and continued with solo albums after Utopia's breakup in 1986. In 2018 he turned 70 with no signs of slowing down, he then toured with both a career retrospective and an all-star Beatles tribute.
- Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Jan Hammer (Czech pronunciation: [ˈjan ˈɦamɛr]) (born 17 April 1948) is a Czech-American musician, composer and record producer. He first gained his most visible audience while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early 1970s, as well as his film scores for television and film including "Miami Vice Theme" and "Crockett's Theme", from the 1980s television program, Miami Vice. He has continued to work as both a musical performer and producer, expanding to producing film later in his career. Hammer has collaborated with some of the era's most influential jazz and rock musicians such as John McLaughlin, Jeff Beck, Al Di Meola, Mick Jagger, Carlos Santana, Stanley Clarke, Tommy Bolin, Neal Schon, Steve Lukather and Elvin Jones. He has composed and produced at least 14 original motion picture soundtracks, the music for 90 episodes of Miami Vice and 20 episodes of the television series Chancer. His compositions have won him several Grammy Awards.
- Birthplace: Czech Republic, Prague
- Keith Julian Strickland (born October 26, 1953) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, composer, and one of the founding members of The B-52s. He was born in Athens, Georgia. Originally the band's drummer, Strickland switched to guitar after the death of guitarist Ricky Wilson in 1985. Strickland also plays keyboards and bass guitar on many of The B-52s recordings, and has occasionally provided backing vocals. Strickland composes the music for The B-52s. He said of the process: "Ricky and I used to write the music together, but now I write the individual instrument parts and arrange the instrumental compositions myself. I'm trying to convey a feeling when I compose. I think of my instrumentals as soundscapes - the chord progressions, rhythms, harmonics and musical direction are used to evoke various sonic atmospheres or moods."Strickland came out as gay in 1992.On December 13, 2012, Strickland retired from touring for the B52s. Fred Schneider said of Strickland's announcement, "We had known about Keith’s decision for a while but we just didn’t want to think about it. Keith will probably still be available for special shows but he wanted to get off the road. Keith will always be able to work with us whenever he wants. He’s a best friend."
- Birthplace: Georgia, USA, Athens
- Alexander Arthur van Halen (born May 8, 1953 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch American musician who is the drummer and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen. The band was formed in 1974 by Alex Van Halen; his younger brother, Eddie Van Halen; David Lee Roth; and Michael Anthony. Warner Brothers signed the band in 1977, and its debut album was released in 1978. Alex and Eddie Van Halen are the only members of Van Halen who have been in the band throughout its existence.
- Birthplace: Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Don Henley, a name synonymous with the classic rock era, stands as a prolific singer, songwriter, and drummer. Born on July 22, 1947, in Gilmer, Texas, Henley spent his early years immersed in music, eventually leading him to co-found the chart-topping band, The Eagles, in 1971. Known for his distinctive vocal style, he played an integral role in shaping the group's signature sound, contributing immensely to their success with hits like "Hotel California" and "Desperado". Henley's individual genius, however, was not confined to the boundaries of The Eagles. In 1982, following the band's breakup, he embarked on a successful solo career that further amplified his reputation as a gifted artist. His debut solo album, I Can't Stand Still, featuring the hit single "Dirty Laundry," showcased his knack for crafting poignant lyrics over compelling melodies. He continued this streak with subsequent albums such as Building the Perfect Beast and The End of the Innocence, both of which earned him Grammy Awards. Beyond his musical contributions, Henley is noted for his activism, particularly his commitment to environmental causes. He co-founded the Walden Woods Project in 1990, an organization dedicated to preserving the land around Walden Pond in Massachusetts, a site of great historical and literary significance. Additionally, he is one of the founders of the Caddo Lake Institute in his native Texas, aimed at conserving the local wetlands.
- Birthplace: Gilmer, Texas, USA
- Bradley J. Wilk (born September 5, 1968) is an American musician, actor, and activist. He is best known as the drummer of the rock bands Rage Against the Machine (1991–2000; 2007–2011), Audioslave (2001–2007; 2017), and Prophets of Rage (2016–present). Wilk started his career as a drummer for Greta in 1990, and helped co-found Rage with Tom Morello and Zack de la Rocha in August 1991. Following that band's breakup in October 2000 Wilk, Morello, Rage Against the Machine bassist Tim Commerford, and Soundgarden front man Chris Cornell formed the supergroup Audioslave, which broke up in 2007. As of 2016, he is playing in the band Prophets of Rage, with Commerford, Morello, Chuck D, B-Real and DJ Lord. Wilk has also performed drums on English metal band Black Sabbath's final album 13. The album was released in June 2013. Wilk briefly played with Pearl Jam shortly after the release of their debut album Ten.
- Birthplace: Oregon, USA, Portland
Patrick Carney
Age: 44Patrick James Carney (born April 15, 1980) is an American musician and producer. Carney serves as the drummer for The Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio. He is currently based in Nashville, Tennessee.- Birthplace: USA, Akron, Ohio
- Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (; April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer. In a career that spanned more than 20 years, Porcaro was best known for his work with the rock band Toto. Porcaro is one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions. While already an established studio player in the 1970s, he came to prominence in the United States as the drummer on the Steely Dan album Katy Lied. AllMusic has characterized him as "arguably the most highly regarded studio drummer in rock from the mid-'70s to the early '90s", further stating that "It is no exaggeration to say that the sound of mainstream pop/rock drumming in the 1980s was, to a large extent, the sound of Jeff Porcaro." He was posthumously inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1993.
- Birthplace: Hartford, Connecticut
- Maurice White (December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and arranger. He was the founder and leader of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. White served as the band's main songwriter and record producer and was its co-lead singer with Philip Bailey.White has been described as a "musical renaissance man" by Allmusic and a "maestro" by Billboard. He was nominated for a total of 22 Grammys, of which he won seven. White was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as a member of Earth, Wind & Fire, and was also inducted individually into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.White worked with several other famous recording artists, including Deniece Williams, the Emotions, Barbra Streisand, and Neil Diamond.
- Birthplace: Tennessee, USA, Memphis
- The modern equivalent of such Warner Brothers gangsters as Allen Jenkins, Frank McHugh and Wayne Morris, Frank Vincent turned in excellent, menacing performances in a score of films and TV shows while never becoming a star. Vincent started his professional life drifting through the New York nightclub world of the 1960s: he was a drummer for studio sessions and led his own band, The Aristocrats, in the honky-tonk clubs of Times Square, the Tenderloin and vicinity. He eventually formed a comedy act with his band singer, Joe Pesci. The duo performed sketches, did accents and used insult humor and toured the US for six years before dissolving the partnership in 1975. Pesci and Vincent both had large supporting roles in the low-budget gangster film "Death Collector" (1976) but Vincent did not work again in film for several years. A chance meeting with Pesci in 1978 led to an audition with Martin Scorsese for his biopic of Jake La Motta, "Raging Bull" (1980). Vincent appeared as Salvi, a gangster whom Pesci beats to a pulp, but his career idled for the next decade. Vincent appeared again with Pesci in "Dear Mr. Wonderful" (1982) and had small roles in John Sayles' "Baby, It's You" (1983), "The Pope of Greenwich Village" (1984), "No Surrender" and Brian De Palma's "Wise Guys" (both 1986). In 1989, Vincent landed small roles in two high-profile projects: Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing," as a motorist doused with water from a fire hydrant, and Ulrich Edel's "Last Exit to Brooklyn," as a priest. Scorsese re-teamed Vincent and Pesci in "GoodFellas" (1990); Pesci again beat up Vincent, this time fatally. Finally, the film community began offering Vincent slightly larger roles in higher-profile films: Alan Rudolph's domestic murder thriller "Mortal Thoughts" and Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever" (both 1991) and Michael Corrente's crime drama "Federal Hill" (1994), as a local 'godfather'. In 1995, Scorsese reunited Vincent and Pesci in "Casino," where this time, Vincent had the opportunity to kill his longtime screen nemesis. Vincent subsequently appeared in the drama "Grind" in support of Adrienne Shelley and Billy Crudup and in Edward Burns' romantic comedy "She's the One" (both 1996). He would continue to surface in crime-drama fare such as "Night Falls On Manhattan," "Copland," "Made Men" (all 1997) and as comedic variations of his tough-guy persona in "Gunshy" and "The Crew" (both 2000). He had a rare, non-gangster-from-the-neighborhood role in the 2000 biopic of author Jaqueline Susann "Isn't She Great" playing Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis. Vincent also showed up on TV from time to time, including supporting roles in the TV-movies "A Perfect Spy" (PBS, 1988), "The Adventure of the Clapham Cook" (PBS, 1990), "Dead and Alive: The Race for Gus Farace" (ABC, 1991), "On Seventh Avenue" (1996), "Gotti" (1996), "Witness to the Mob" (1998) and "Rubout" (2003), among many others. But the actor's seminal role was his addition to the supporting cast of the mob drama "The Sopranos" (HBO 1999-2007) in 2004 as the menacing Phil Leotardo, whose simmering vendetta against Tony Sopranos crew nearly undoes the mob boss' mini-empire. During this period, Vincent co-wrote the book A Guy's Guide to Being a Man's Man. Vincent slowed down his prolific career after his stint on "The Sopranos," appearing in a handful of voice roles in video games and direct-to-DVD animated films. He also had a rare lead role in the gangster film "Chicago Overcoat" (2009) and appeared in an episode of "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC 1999- ). Frank Vincent died on September 13, 2017, while undergoing open heart surgery following a heart attack. He was 80 years old.
- Birthplace: North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
- Stephen Philip Jones (born 3 September 1955) is an English rock guitarist, singer, actor and radio DJ, best known as a guitarist with the Sex Pistols. Following the split of the Sex Pistols, he formed The Professionals with former bandmate Paul Cook. He has also released two solo albums, and worked with the likes of Johnny Thunders, Iggy Pop, Bob Dylan and Thin Lizzy. In 1995, he formed the short lived supergroup Neurotic Outsiders with members of Guns N' Roses and Duran Duran. Jones was ranked in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
- Birthplace: London, England, UK
- William Henry "Chick" Webb (February 10, 1905 – June 16, 1939) was an American jazz and swing music drummer as well as a band leader.
- Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland
- Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was the 12th president of the United States, serving from March 1849 until his death in July 1850. Taylor previously was a career officer in the United States Army, rose to the rank of major general and became a national hero as a result of his victories in the Mexican–American War. As a result, he won election to the White House despite his vague political beliefs. His top priority as president was preserving the Union, but he died sixteen months into his term, before making any progress on the status of slavery, which had been inflaming tensions in Congress. Taylor was born into a prominent family of plantation owners who moved westward from Virginia to Kentucky in his youth. He was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army in 1808 and made a name for himself as a captain in the War of 1812. He climbed the ranks establishing military forts along the Mississippi River and entered the Black Hawk War as a colonel in 1832. His success in the Second Seminole War attracted national attention and earned him the nickname "Old Rough and Ready". In 1845, during the annexation of Texas, President James K. Polk dispatched Taylor to the Rio Grande in anticipation of a battle with Mexico over the disputed Texas–Mexico border. The Mexican–American War broke out in April 1846, and Taylor defeated Mexican troops commanded by General Mariano Arista at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma and drove his troops out of Texas. Taylor then led his troops into Mexico, where they defeated Mexican troops commanded by Pedro de Ampudia at the Battle of Monterrey. Defying orders, Taylor led his troops further south and, despite being severely outnumbered, dealt a crushing blow to Mexican forces under Antonio López de Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista. Taylor's troops were transferred to the command of Major General Winfield Scott, but Taylor retained his popularity. The Whig Party convinced the reluctant Taylor to lead their ticket in the 1848 presidential election, despite his unclear political tenets and lack of interest in politics. At the 1848 Whig National Convention, Taylor defeated Scott and former Senator Henry Clay to take the nomination. He won the general election alongside New York politician Millard Fillmore, defeating Democratic Party candidates Lewis Cass and William Orlando Butler, as well as a third-party effort led by former president Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams, Sr. of the Free Soil Party. Taylor became the first president to be elected without having served in a prior political office. As president, Taylor kept his distance from Congress and his cabinet, even though partisan tensions threatened to divide the Union. Debate over the status of slavery in the Mexican Cession dominated the political agenda and led to threats of secession from Southerners. Despite being a Southerner and a slaveholder himself, Taylor did not push for the expansion of slavery, and sought sectional harmony above all other concerns. To avoid the issue of slavery, he urged settlers in New Mexico and California to bypass the territorial stage and draft constitutions for statehood, setting the stage for the Compromise of 1850. Taylor died suddenly of a stomach disease on July 9, 1850, with his administration having accomplished little aside from the ratification of the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty. Fillmore served the remainder of his term. Historians and scholars have ranked Taylor in the bottom quartile of U.S. presidents, owing in part to his short term of office (16 months), and he has been described as "more a forgettable president than a failed one."
- Birthplace: Barboursville, Virginia, United States of America
- Aaron Roderick Gillespie (born July 18, 1983) is an American musician, best known for being the original drummer and clean vocalist for the metalcore band Underoath, and the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the alternative rock band The Almost. Gillespie also maintains his own solo project, and released his debut full-length album, Anthem Song on March 8, 2011. From 2013 to 2016, he was the touring drummer for Paramore.
- Birthplace: Clearwater, Florida
- Michael Stephen Portnoy (born April 20, 1967) is an American drummer and songwriter primarily known as the former drummer, backing vocalist, and a co-founder of the progressive metal/rock band Dream Theater. In September 2010, Portnoy announced his departure from Dream Theater after 25 years, with Mike Mangini taking his place as drummer of the band. Since his departure, Portnoy has formed a variety of new bands and projects, including Adrenaline Mob, Flying Colors, The Winery Dogs and Sons of Apollo.
- Birthplace: USA, Long Beach, New York
- Joseph Donald Mascis Jr. (; born December 10, 1965) is an American musician, best known as the singer, guitarist and main songwriter for the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. He has also released several albums as a solo artist and played drums and guitar on other projects. His most recent solo album, Elastic Days, was released in November 2018. He was ranked number 86 in a Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists", and number 5 in a similar list for Spin magazine in 2012.
- Birthplace: USA, Massachusetts, Amherst
- Bret 'Epic' Mazur (born Bret Hadley Mazur on August 31, 1970) is an American vocalist, rapper, and record producer. He is best known as a founder and former frontman of the rap rock band Crazy Town.
- Birthplace: New York City, New York
- Tony Thompson may refer to: Tony Thompson (drummer) (1954–2003), American session drummer Tony Thompson (singer) (1975–2007), R&B vocalist and Hi-Five lead singer Tony Thompson (boxer) (born 1971), American boxer Tony Thompson (footballer) (born 1994), English footballer
- Birthplace: New York City, USA, New York
- William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian-American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. According to AllMusic's reviewer, Cobham is "generally acclaimed as fusion's greatest drummer".He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Classic Drummer Hall of Fame in 2013.
- Birthplace: Panama
- Nathan Jonas "Joey" Jordison (born April 26, 1975), is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work as the former drummer and co-songwriter for the American heavy metal band Slipknot as well as guitarist in the American horror punk band Murderdolls. Jordison played in Slipknot since their formation in 1995 until his departure from the band in December 2013. He was the drummer and founder of the American heavy metal band Scar the Martyr, which formed in 2013 and disbanded in 2016. He grew up in Waukee, Iowa with his parents and two sisters, and was given his first drum kit at the age of 8. He performed in several bands until joining in the summer of 1995 with the group The Pale Ones, which would later change their name to Slipknot. Of Slipknot's nine-member lineup, which lasted from 1999–2010, Joey was the third to join the band. With Slipknot, Jordison performed on four studio albums, and produced the live album 9.0: Live. Outside his major projects, Jordison has performed with other heavy metal groups such as Rob Zombie, Metallica, Korn, Ministry, Otep and Satyricon. Jordison is also known for his session work, which includes performances on many albums for many different artists. Jordison uses several drum brands including Pearl and ddrum. He currently plays with the band Sinsaenum.
- Birthplace: USA, Des Moines, Iowa
- Jeffrey Linton Osborne (born March 9, 1948) is an American Grammy–nominated singer–songwriter, musician and lyricist. Osborne is the former drummer and lead singer of the American R&B/Soul group L.T.D.; with whom he began his musical career in 1970.
- Birthplace: USA, Providence, Rhode Island
- Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history. He worked with many famous jazz musicians, including Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Abbey Lincoln, Dinah Washington, Charles Mingus, Billy Eckstine, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Eric Dolphy, and Booker Little. He was inducted into the DownBeat Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1992.Roach also led his own groups, most notably a pioneering quintet co-led with trumpeter Clifford Brown and the percussion ensemble M'Boom. He made numerous musical statements relating to the civil rights movement.
- Birthplace: Newland, North Carolina, USA
- Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American multi-instrumentalist musician who has received critical acclaim for his innovative electric guitar playing. His music spans many genres, including progressive metal, funk, blues, bluegrass, ambient, and avant-garde music. He performs primarily as a solo artist, though he has collaborated extensively with a wide variety of high-profile artists such as Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, Iggy Pop, Les Claypool, Serj Tankian, Bill Moseley, Mike Patton, Viggo Mortensen, That 1 Guy, Bassnectar, and was a member of Guns N' Roses from 2000 to 2004. He has released 306 studio albums, four special releases, and one EP. He has also performed on more than 50 other albums by other artists. When performing, Buckethead wears a KFC bucket on his head, emblazoned with an orange bumper sticker reading FUNERAL in block letters, and an expressionless plain white mask inspired by Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. At one point, he changed to a plain white bucket without a KFC logo, but subsequently reverted to his emblematic KFC bucket. He also incorporates nunchaku and robot dancing into his stage performances.Buckethead has been voted number 8 on a list in GuitarOne magazine of the "Top 10 Fastest Guitar Shredders of All Time" as well as being included in Guitar World's lists of the "25 all-time weirdest guitarists" and the "50 fastest guitarists of all time". Buckethead has written and performed music for major motion pictures, including Saw II, Ghosts of Mars, Beverly Hills Ninja, Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Last Action Hero, and contributed lead guitar to the track "Firebird" featured on the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie soundtrack.
- Birthplace: Huntington Beach, USA, California
- Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV (born January 19, 1953), known professionally as Desi Arnaz Jr., is an American actor and musician. He is the son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
- Birthplace: Los Angeles, USA, California
- Mark Scott Travis (born September 6, 1961) is an American rock musician, best known as the drummer for the English heavy metal band Judas Priest, the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy, and the American heavy metal band Racer X.
- Birthplace: USA, Virginia, Norfolk
- Frank Edwin Wright III (born December 9, 1972), known professionally as Tré Cool, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the drummer for the punk rock band Green Day. He replaced the band's former drummer, John Kiffmeyer, in 1990 as Kiffmeyer felt that he should focus on college. Cool has also played in The Lookouts, Samiam, Dead Mermaids, Bubu and the Brood and the Green Day side-projects The Network and the Foxboro Hot Tubs.
- Birthplace: Frankfurt, Germany
- David Lombardo (born February 16, 1965) is a Cuban-American drummer, best known as a co-founding member of American thrash metal band Slayer. Lombardo played drums on nine Slayer albums, including the 1986 album Reign in Blood and the 2006 album Christ Illusion, for which he received critical praise. Lombardo's music career has spanned forty years, during which he has been involved in the production of thirty-five commercial recordings covering a number of genres. He has performed with numerous bands, including Grip Inc., Fantômas, Testament, and Suicidal Tendencies, in addition to Slayer. Lombardo is currently playing drums with Fantômas, Suicidal Tendencies, Dead Cross, and the Misfits.Lombardo is widely known as an aggressive heavy metal drummer. His drumming has been praised as "astonishingly innovative". Drummerworld named him "the Godfather of Double Bass". He has had a significant influence on the metal scene and inspired modern metal drummers, particularly extreme metal drummers.
- Birthplace: Havana, Cuba
Ontronik "Andy" Khachaturian (born May 4, 1975) is an American musician, producer and DJ. He is known for being the original drummer (1993–1997) of metal band System of a Down and founder/lead vocalist (1999–2002) of the alt-progressive rock band The Apex Theory, as well as the member of his band VoKee.- Birthplace: Tehran, Iran
- James Beck Gordon (born July 14, 1945) is an American musician and songwriter. Gordon was a popular session drummer in the late 1960s and 1970s and was the drummer in the blues rock supergroup Derek and the Dominos. In 1983, in a psychotic episode associated with undiagnosed schizophrenia, Gordon murdered his mother and was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison.
- Birthplace: Los Angeles, California
- Edmund Leonard Thigpen (December 28, 1930 – January 13, 2010) was an American jazz drummer, best known for his work with the Oscar Peterson trio from 1959 to 1965. Thigpen also performed with the Billy Taylor trio from 1956 to 1959.
- Birthplace: USA, Chicago, Illinois
- Eric Singer (born Eric Doyle Mensinger; May 12, 1958) is an American hard rock and heavy metal drummer, best known as a member of Kiss, portraying The Catman originally played by Peter Criss. He has also performed with artists such as Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Lita Ford, Badlands, Brian May and Gary Moore as well as his own band ESP. In his career, Singer has appeared on over 75 albums and 11 EPs.
- Birthplace: Euclid, Ohio
- Taylor Hawkins was best known as a member of the rock band Foo Fighters. He was a drummer for Canadian rock singer, Sass Jordan and tour drummer for singer/songwriter Alanis Morissette prior to joining Foo Fighters. His first Foo Fighters appearance was in the music video for the song "Monkey Wrench" (1997). Hawkins also shared his vocal, guitar and piano skills with the band. March 25, 2022 Hawkins was scheduled to perform when he experienced chest pains. Medical personnel arrived to find Hawkins unresponsive and was declared dead at the scene. He was 50 years old. Foo Fighters won grammys in all three rock categories at the 2022 Grammys.
- Birthplace: Fort Worth, Texas, USA
- James J. Roberts (born 1947) is an American writer, journalist, radio and television news anchor, documentarian, and commentator. Primarily a journalist, Roberts received national recognition for his reporting from wire services, fellow journalists, broadcasters associations, the American Bar Association, and cable television consortia. He is primarily known for his gripping documentaries and biting social commentary. In addition to his work as a writer, correspondent, editor and anchorman, Roberts is known for his contributions to modern justice. He was the first Director of Communications for the Supreme Court and Judicial System of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. At Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island, he taught domestic violence victims, criminologists, police, and service providers how to better navigate legal and court systems. He championed the cause of having judges and court officials more openly communicate with the media and public and participated in the successful introduction of cameras into the state's courtrooms. At the University of Rhode Island, Roberts taught judges and the media how to develop productive, honest relationships, and he produced and anchored "Justice for ALL!", a national award winning series of hour-long programs that focused on fixing flawed laws, addressing ineffective prison rehabilitation systems, bolstering the nation's crippled courts, better addressing domestic violence, and repairing the negative impact of politics on America's justice system. Roberts' ethics and reportorial work was strongly influenced by Edward R. Murrow. Roberts studied writing and journalism under the tutelage Louis Adler, News Director of CBS Radio News in NY and Journalism instructor at the Columbia School of Journalism; Wilbur Doctor (Providence Journal); and at the University of Rhode Island where he was graduated cum laude with a degree in Journalism. Roberts' work has been honored by the Associated Press; by Broadcasters' Associations in Illinois, Mississippi, and Rhode Island; United Press International; the American Bar Association and others. During his broadcast career, Roberts edited and anchored news at WNTS-All News Radio (Indianapolis, IN), WKFD (Wickford, RI), WPRI-TV (ABC-TV Providence, RI affiliate), WLKW-Radio (Providence, RI), WLOX-TV (ABC-TV Gulfcoast affiliate), WQAD-TV (ABC-TV Illinois affiliate). He also served as CBS NEWS Special Assignment Correspondent and a Special Assignment reporter for WCBS News-Radio-88 (NY). Among his better known documentary works are: Ernie Pyle: The War Years; HURRICANE!; Justice for All; Homeless in America; Radon: The Silent Killer; The Presidential Journey; and others. Roberts, brother of classical composer David J. Sosnowski, resides in the coastal village of Wickford in North Kingstown, Rhode Island where he consults on international business development, strategic communications, crisis management, and marketing as well as publishes websites on topics of interest to him, including: RobertsReview which explores recent cancer treatment breakthroughs, Behind the Scenes the latest collection of his recent writing, MyCancerNews, which tracks new developments in treating usually fatal cancers such as pancreatic and lung cancer, Germani! on the arts, etc. He is managing director of Mercury, a bipartisan public strategy firm.
- Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was an American jazz drummer, band leader, actor, and composer known for his energetic style and showmanship. His drum solo on "Sing, Sing, Sing" (1937) elevated the role of the drummer from an accompanying line to an important solo voice in the band. In collaboration with the Slingerland drum and Zildjian cymbal manufacturers, he was a major force in defining the standard band drummer's kit. Krupa is considered "the founding father of the modern drumset" by Modern Drummer magazine.
- Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Brendan John Canty (born March 9, 1966 in Teaneck, New Jersey) is an American musician, composer, producer and film maker, best known as the drummer for the band Fugazi. In 2007, Stylus Magazine ranked Canty at #29 on the list of "50 Greatest Rock Drummers", based on his drumming work with Fugazi.
- Birthplace: Teaneck, New Jersey, USA
- Billy Higgins (October 11, 1936 – May 3, 2001) was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop.
- Birthplace: Los Angeles, USA, California
- Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955), nicknamed the Nevermind Man, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the drummer and co-producer of the alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of diamond-selling album Nevermind by Nirvana.A native of Wisconsin, Vig had been based in Madison for much of his career, from studying at the University of Wisconsin, to performing in local bands Spooner and Fire Town, and then to setting up his own recording studio, Smart Studios, with bandmate Steve Marker in the town. After becoming well known as a producer, he formed and played drums with Garbage, who sold 17 million records over a ten-year period. Vig returned to producing full-time once Garbage went on hiatus in 2005. The band reconvened in 2010 to record material for their fifth album. In 2012, Vig ranked number nine in NME's Top 50 Greatest Producers Ever.
- Birthplace: USA, Wisconsin, Viroqua
- William Thomas Berry (born July 31, 1958) is a retired American musician who was the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Although best known for his solid, economical drumming style, Berry also played other instruments including guitar, bass guitar, and piano, both for songwriting and on R.E.M. albums. After 17 years with the band, Berry left the music industry to become a farmer, and has since maintained a low profile, making sporadic reunions with R.E.M. and appearing on other artists' recordings.
- Birthplace: USA, Minnesota, Duluth
- Eugene Victor Hoglan II (born August 31, 1967, in Dallas, Texas) is an American drummer, acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including use of abstract devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms. His highly technical playing is extremely accurate at very high and challenging tempos, earning him the nicknames "The Atomic Clock" and "Human Drum Machine." He is best known for his work with Dark Angel, Death, Strapping Young Lad, Devin Townsend, Fear Factory, Dethklok and Testament. Hoglan completed work on Dethklok's fourth album The Doomstar Requiem, which was released in October 2013. He released the highly successful Gene Hoglan: The Atomic Clock DVD, and rejoined Testament to record the drum tracks for their tenth album, Dark Roots of Earth, released in July 2012. Hoglan was featured on the cover of Modern Drummer magazine November 2010. He also won Terrorizer magazine's Reader's Poll for Best Drummer 2010, and Modern Drummer magazine nominated Hoglan for Best Metal Drummer, and Best Recorded Performance (for Dethklok's Dethalbum II) on their 2011 ballot. He was nominated for Best Drummer in Revolver magazine's 2010 Reader's Poll.
- Birthplace: Texas, USA, Dallas
- George Allen "Buddy" Miles Jr. (September 5, 1947 – February 26, 2008), was an American rock drummer, vocalist, composer, and producer. He was a founding member of the Electric Flag (1967), a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys (1969–1970), founder and leader of the Buddy Miles Express and later, the Buddy Miles Band. Miles also played and recorded with Carlos Santana and others. Additionally, he sang lead vocals on the critically and commercially acclaimed "California Raisins" claymation TV commercials and recorded two California Raisins R&B albums.
- Birthplace: USA, Nebraska, Omaha
- Birthplace: Aberdeen, Washington
- Dan Cunneen is a drummer, songwriter, disc jockey, screen printer and graphic designer originally from Portland, Oregon, United States. Cunneen is best known for his drum work with the 1980s Portland, Oregon bands Final Warning and The Obituaries as well as the 1990s Seattle, Washington-based bands Zipgun and Nightcaps. Cunneen currently plays drums with White Center, Washington band Roxbury Saints and the Perkins Coie Band (aka PCBs), the in house band for the Seattle, Washington-based law firm Perkins Coie.On January 3, 2015 Cunneen was ordained as a minister in the Universal Life Church.
- Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni (July 6, 1924 – February 14, 2009), known by the stage name Louie Bellson (his own preferred spelling, although he is often seen in sources as Louis Bellson), was an American jazz drummer. He was a composer, arranger, bandleader, and jazz educator, and is credited with pioneering the use of two bass drums.Bellson was an internationally acclaimed artist who performed in most of the major capitals around the world. Bellson and his wife, actress and singer Pearl Bailey (married from 1952 until Bailey's death in 1990), had the second highest number of appearances at the White House (only Bob Hope had more). Bellson was a vice president at Remo, a drum company. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1985.
- Birthplace: USA, Rock Falls, Illinois
- Stephen Paul Motian (March 25, 1931 – November 22, 2011) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer. Motian played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties.He first came to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans, and later was a regular in pianist Keith Jarrett's band for about a decade (c. 1967–1976). Motian began his career as a bandleader in the early 1970s. Perhaps his two most notable groups were a longstanding trio of guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist Joe Lovano, and the Electric Bebop Band which featured the drummer working mostly with younger musicians doing interpretations of bebop standards.
- Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Sheldon Manne (June 11, 1920 – September 26, 1984), professionally known as Shelly Manne, was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, swing, bebop, avant-garde jazz and fusion, as well as contributing to the musical background of hundreds of Hollywood films and television programs.
- Birthplace: New York City, USA, New York
- Brian Blade (born July 25, 1970) is an American jazz drummer, composer, session musician, and singer-songwriter.
- Birthplace: Shreveport, Louisiana
- Albert J. Jackson Jr. (November 27, 1935 – October 1, 1975) was an American drummer, producer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.'s, a group of session musicians who worked for Stax Records and produced their own instrumentals. Jackson was affectionately dubbed "The Human Timekeeper" for his drumming ability. He was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2015.
- Birthplace: Memphis, Tennessee
- William "Benny" Benjamin (July 25, 1925 – April 20, 1969), nicknamed Papa Zita, was an American musician, most notable as the primary drummer for the Motown studio band known as The Funk Brothers. He was a native of Birmingham, Alabama.Benjamin originally learned to play drums in the style of the big band jazz groups in the 1940s. In 1958, Benjamin was Motown's first studio drummer, where he was noted for his dynamic style. Several Motown record producers, including Berry Gordy, refused to work on any recording sessions unless Benjamin was the drummer and James Jamerson was the bassist. The Beatles singled out Benjamin's drumming style upon meeting Gordy in the UK. Among the Motown songs Benjamin performed the drum tracks for are early hits such as "Money (That's What I Want)" by Barrett Strong and "Do You Love Me" by The Contours; as well as later hits such as "Get Ready" and "My Girl" by The Temptations, "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" by Stevie Wonder, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Gladys Knight & the Pips, and "Going to a Go-Go" by The Miracles. Benjamin was influenced by the work of drummers Buddy Rich and Tito Puente. He recorded with a studio set composed of Ludwig, Slingerland, Rogers and Gretsch components and probably Zildjian cymbals.By the late 1960s, Benjamin struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, and fellow Funk Brothers Uriel Jones and Richard "Pistol" Allen increasingly recorded more of the drum tracks for the studio's releases. Benjamin died on April 20, 1969, of a stroke at age 43.Benjamin was inducted into the "Sidemen" category of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. He was named the eleventh best drummer of all time by the Rolling Stone magazine in 2016.
- Birthplace: Mobile, Alabama
- Carter Anthony Beauford (born November 2, 1958, in Charlottesville, Virginia) is an American drummer, percussionist, and founding member of Dave Matthews Band. He is known for his ability to adapt to a variety of genres, and both his ambidextrous and his open-handed drumming styles. He plays the drums and sings backing vocals in the band. Beauford was ranked number 10 by a Rolling Stone magazine reader's poll in 2010 for greatest drummers of all-time.
- Birthplace: USA, Virginia, Charlottesville
- Steve Jordan (January 14, 1957) is an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer who has spent much of his career as a studio musician. During the 1970s and '80s, he was a member of the bands for the television shows Saturday Night Live and Late Night With David Letterman. In the early 80's Steve Jordan was a member of the Steve Khan band, along with Anthony Jackson on bass, and Manolo Badrena on percussion. In 2005, he became a member of the John Mayer Trio.
- Birthplace: New York City, USA, New York
- Chris Mars (born April 26, 1961) is an American painter and musician. He was the drummer for the seminal Minneapolis alternative-rock band The Replacements from 1979 to 1990, and then he joined the informal supergroup Golden Smog before beginning a solo career. Mars more or less left music behind in the late '90s in order to concentrate on his artwork.
- Birthplace: Minneapolis, USA, Minnesota
- James Roland "J. R." Mitchell (April 13, 1937 – January 25, 2004) was a jazz drummer and educator who sought to promote awareness of the African American music experience. In the early 1980s, jazz journalist and Washington Post music critic W. Royal Stokes wrote, "J. R. Mitchell is the renaissance man of jazz."
- Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed an interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan. He served in the United States Army from 1946 to 1949 and subsequently played in a Detroit house band led by Billy Mitchell. He moved to New York City in 1955 and worked as a sideman for Charles Mingus, Teddy Charles, Bud Powell and Miles Davis.From 1960 to 1966 he was a member of the John Coltrane quartet (along with Jimmy Garrison on bass and McCoy Tyner on piano), a celebrated recording phase, appearing on such albums as A Love Supreme. Following his work with Coltrane, Jones led several small groups, some under the name The Elvin Jones Jazz Machine. His brothers Hank Jones and Thad Jones were also jazz musicians with whom he recorded. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1995.
- Birthplace: Michigan, USA, Pontiac
- Jon Fishman (born February 19, 1965) is an American drummer known for his work with the band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983, and in part, was named after him. He is credited with co-writing nineteen Phish songs, eight with a solo credit.
- Birthplace: USA, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Mickey Hart worked on a variety of projects during his entertainment career. Hart worked on a variety of projects during his early entertainment career, including "Apocalypse Now" (1979), "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse" (1991) starring Francis Ford Coppola and "Powaqqatsi" with Francis Ford Coppola (1988). He also contributed to "The Twilight Zone" (CBS, 1985-89), "Timeless Voices: The Gyuto Monks" and "Vietnam: A Television History" (PBS, 1982-83). In the nineties, Hart's music continued to appear on the silver screen, including in films like the comedy "Made in America" (1993) with Whoopi Goldberg and the sports comedy "The Air Up There" (1994) with Kevin Bacon. Film continued to be his passion as he played roles in the Bob Weir documentary "The End of the Road" (2000) and "Grateful Dead: Crimson, White & Indigo" (2010). He held additional roles in television including a part on "On Tour" (PBS, 1996-98). Hart also contributed music to the documentary "Zakir and His Friends" (1998) with Zakir Hussain. Most recently, Hart appeared on the Ginger Baker documentary "Beware of Mr. Baker" (2012).
- Birthplace: New York, New York, USA
- Chico Hamilton's musical talents have contributed to a variety of Hollywood productions. Hamilton began his entertainment career with his music featured in films like "Sweet Smell of Success" (1957) with Burt Lancaster and "Repulsion" (1965) with Catherine Deneuve. An an actor as well as a musician, Hamilton took on a part in "Jazz on a Summer's Day" (1959). In the seventies and the nineties, Hamilton's music continued to appear on the silver screen, including in films like "Confessor" (1973), "The Confessor" (1974) and the animated feature "Coonskin" (1975) with Barry White. His work was also in the Dean Martin action flick "Mr. Ricco" (1975) and the Patty Duke comedy "By Design" (1982). Hamilton most recently worked on the drama "Liebe auf den Ersten Blick" (1992) with Geno Lechner. Hamilton passed away in November 2013 at the age of 92.
- Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA
- John William Stevenson (born September 10, 1963) is an American musician and record producer. He is the drummer, main songwriter, and the only constant for the California punk rock group Descendents since its inception. In late December 1981 he played a few concerts with Black Flag because their drummer ROBO was detained in England after a tour there. He went on to record with Black Flag on several of their albums until 1985. After this he focused his attention on Descendents and played with them until Milo Aukerman left in 1987. After Milo had left, Bill and the others from Descendents, Karl Alvarez and Stephen Egerton, got singer Dave Smalley of Dag Nasty and formed All. All went on to have two more singers, Scott Reynolds (1989–1993) and Chad Price (1993–present). Aukerman came back to do the 1996 album Everything Sucks, the 2004 album Cool to Be You and the newest, 2016's Hypercaffium Spazzinate. All and Descendents continue to tour between Stevenson's and Aukerman's respective careers as a recording engineer and a biochemist. Stevenson was born in Torrance, California and attended Mira Costa High School, with fellow members of the Descendents.Stevenson, along with Jason Livermore are the founders of the recording studio "The Blasting Room" in Fort Collins, Colorado. Currently, Stevenson is involved in Russ Rankin's side project Only Crime with former members of GWAR and Converge. In 2005, he became a member of instrumental group The Mag Seven, and produced the group's album.One of Stevenson's most recent works is producing Rise Against's seventh studio album, The Black Market, which was released July 15, 2014, As I Lay Dying's Awakened as well as the recent NOFX album Self Entitled. In August 2007, he revealed plans to produce and play drums on an album by The Lemonheads.
- Birthplace: Torrance, California, USA
- Jerome Eugene "Bigfoot" Brailey (born August 20, 1950) is an American drummer, best known for his work with P-Funk, which included the bands Parliament, Funkadelic, and numerous related projects. Brailey is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.
- Birthplace: USA, Virginia, Richmond
- Murrey Mizell "Buddy" Harman, Jr. (December 23, 1928 – August 21, 2008) was an American country music session musician.
- Birthplace: Nashville, Tennessee
- Ernest "Ernie" Isley (born March 7, 1952) is a member of the American musical ensemble The Isley Brothers.
- Birthplace: Cincinnati, Ohio
- Brian Tichy (born August 18, 1968), is an American musician, songwriter and record producer, best known as having been the drummer for Whitesnake, Billy Idol, Foreigner, Sass Jordan, and Ozzy Osbourne. He was the drummer of Whitesnake from 2010 to 2013. Tichy began playing drums at age eight and started playing guitar at age 12. His earliest influences include Kiss with Peter Criss as his main influence, Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden with Nicko McBrain, Aerosmith, AC/DC, and Van Halen. His surname means silent in Czech and Slovak. In 2015, he became a full-time member of Operation: Mindcrime and The Dead Daisies.
- Birthplace: Denville, New Jersey
- Roy Owen Haynes (born March 13, 1925) is an American jazz drummer and group leader. Haynes is among the most recorded drummers in jazz, and in a career lasting over 70 years has played in a wide range of styles ranging from swing and bebop to jazz fusion and avant-garde jazz. He has a highly expressive, personal style ("Snap Crackle" was a nickname given him in the 1950s). He has also led his own groups, some performing under the name Hip Ensemble. His recordings as a leader, Fountain of Youth and Whereas, were nominated for a Grammy Award. He continues to perform worldwide and was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1999. His son Graham Haynes is a cornetist; his son Craig Haynes and grandson Marcus Gilmore are both drummers.
- Birthplace: Boston, USA, Massachusetts, Roxbury, Boston
- Howard Pyle Wyeth (April 22, 1944 – March 27, 1996), also known as Howie Wyeth, was an American drummer and pianist. Wyeth is remembered for work with the saxophonist James Moody, the rockabilly singer Robert Gordon, the electric guitarist Link Wray, the rhythm and blues singer Don Covay, and the folk singer Christine Lavin. Best known as a drummer for Bob Dylan, he was a member of the Wyeth family of American artists.
- Birthplace: Jersey City, New Jersey
- Earl Cyril Palmer (October 25, 1924 – September 19, 2008) was an American rock and roll and rhythm-and-blues drummer. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.Palmer played on many recordings, including Little Richard's first few albums and many other well-known rock and roll records. According to one obituary, "his list of credits read like a Who's Who of American popular music of the last 60 years."
- Birthplace: USA, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Max Weinberg (born April 13, 1951) is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. He is the father of Slipknot drummer Jay Weinberg. Weinberg grew up in suburban New Jersey and began drumming at an early age. He attended college planning to be a lawyer but got his big break in music in 1974 when he won an audition to become the drummer for Springsteen. Weinberg became a mainstay of Springsteen's long concert performances. Springsteen dissolved the band in 1989, and Weinberg spent several years considering a law career and trying the business end of the music industry before deciding he wanted to continue with drumming. In 1993, Weinberg got the role as bandleader of The Max Weinberg 7 for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Weinberg's drums-driven jump blues sound and his role as a comic foil prospered along with the show, giving him a second career. In 1999, Springsteen re-formed the E Street Band for a series of tours and albums; Weinberg worked out an arrangement that allowed him to play with both O'Brien and Springsteen. In 2009, Weinberg moved to the short-lived Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien as leader of Max Weinberg and The Tonight Show Band. After that ended, he began touring with his own ensembles, and in 2010 chose not to follow O'Brien to the new Conan show. Weinberg continued playing with Springsteen, and in 2014 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band.
- Birthplace: USA, Newark, New Jersey
- Jack DeJohnette (born August 9, 1942) is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. An important figure of the fusion era of jazz, DeJohnette is one of the most influential jazz drummers of the 20th century, given his extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians including Charles Lloyd, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, John Abercrombie, Alice Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock and John Scofield. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2007.
- Birthplace: USA, Chicago, Illinois
- The Rocket Summer is the solo-project of Bryce Avary who is based in Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas. Avary is a multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and producer. He writes and produces every song on his records, and plays every instrument on them. He has released six studio albums and several EPs. His fifth release in 2012, Life Will Write the Words, was 58 on The Billboard 200 and 12 on Billboard Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums as well as 12 on Top Independent Albums. His fourth release, Of Men and Angels, held the No. 1 Top Album spot on iTunes upon its release in 2010. AP Magazine called him one of "100 bands you need to know."
- Birthplace: Texas, USA
- Adrian Samuel Young (born August 26, 1969) is an American drummer, most popularly known as a member of the rock bands No Doubt and Dreamcar.
- Birthplace: USA, Long Beach, California
- Anthony, Antony or Tony Williams may refer to:
- Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
- Brandon Barnes (born October 10, 1978) is an American musician and producer from Denver, Colorado. He is best known as the drummer for the punk rock band Rise Against. Brandon is also a strict vegetarian, an animal rights advocate and actively promotes PETA with his band. He is the only member of Rise Against who does not identify as straight edge.
- Birthplace: USA, Denver, Colorado
- Ralph Gallant (October 15, 1943 − August 24, 1992), better known by the stage name Larrie Londin, was an American drummer and session musician.
- Birthplace: Virginia
- Roy Bunny Milton (July 31, 1907 – September 18, 1983) was an American R&B and jump blues singer, drummer and bandleader.
- Birthplace: Wynnewood, Oklahoma
- Joseph Albert Morello (July 17, 1928 – March 12, 2011) was a jazz drummer best known for his work with the Dave Brubeck Quartet. He was particularly noted for playing in the unusual time signatures employed by that group in such pieces as "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo à la Turk". Popular for its work on college campuses during the 1950s, Brubeck's group reached new heights with Morello. In June 1959, Morello participated in a recording session with the quartet — completed by the alto saxophonist Paul Desmond and the bassist Eugene Wright — that yielded "Kathy's Waltz" and "Three to Get Ready," both of which intermingled 3/4 and 4/4 time signatures.
- Birthplace: USA, Massachusetts, Springfield
