#drummer-change

#drummer-change

Ross 'The Boss' Friedman was a pioneering force in both punk and heavy metal, best known as a founding member of The Dictators and Manowar. His powerful playing, unmistakable tone, and uncompromising spirit helped shape generations of musicians and fans around the world.

Over the years my main focus has been jazz so bringing that style and rhythm up to the stage, they found really interesting. Ellis thinks his jazz background made him stand out among his fellow contestants, attributing his success to the distinctive musical perspective he brought to the competition.

One 10-year-old kid tells Smith he likes 'punk rock,' and goes on to name his favorite 'punk' bands as 'blink-182, Green Day [and] Red Hot Chili Peppers,' not even realizing he was standing right next to the Chili Peppers drummer. Smith laughs as he responds, 'Red Hot Chili Peppers, they're not really punk rock, but okay!'

She's a wonderful person. So that was half of the quest, can we find somebody that's gonna be really fun to be with? She's really a lovely person. She laughs easily. She felt immediately comfortable. I think she was quite nervous in those first few days... But she worked really hard. She prepped for it. She had five songs, and we went through those songs. But by the fourth day, Ged and I, we talked and we weren't quite sold on it.

I read Geddy's book [ My Effin' Life, published in 2023], and he mentioned about all the drummers kind of offering themselves to them and how much it turned him and Alex off, Portnoy said. I did send my condolences to Geddy and Alex after Neil passed, but I never once tried to throw my hat in the ring for Neil's gig. I realize that's a sacred role that should only ever be filled if Geddy and Alex choose for it to be so. And sure enough, here we are with them choosing to finally do so, which has been really incredible.

Dave Grohl was an early influence, and some of the first songs Very learned to play came from Nirvana's catalog. "I wasn't one of those guys that got to start playing when I was like six years old, got lessons out the gate," he told the podcast Drummers On Drumming in 2022. "It took me a little while to kind of find my identity. I instantly knew that this was something I was going to be doing for a long time."

Born Lowell Fillmore Dunbar in 1952 in Kingston, Jamaica, Dunbar was a teen drum prodigy who played on Lee "Scratch" Perry and the Upsetters' 1969 single "Night Doctor" and Dave and Ansel Collins' LP "Double Barrel," whose title track topped the U.K. singles chart. After meeting bassist Robbie Shakespeare in 1972, the pair built distinct rhythms such as the insistent "Rockers" groove that bolstered canonical reggae tracks.

Their latest clip features Russian viral drummer Kristina Rybalchenko, aka Kriss, who Drumeo named as its "Instagram Drummer of the Year" back in 2022. Kriss has now amassed one of the largest social media followings of any drummer, even garnering the attention of Fred Durst and Limp Bizkit, who let her premiere one of their songs in a TikTok video.