drummer

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5 Things to Know About Japan's First Female Prime Minister

Sanae Takaichi is conservative, and also a heavy-metal drummer

(Newser) - Japan has its first-ever female prime minister after the nation's parliament elected 64-year-old Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday. A few highlights about her from various outlets:
  • Takaichi is nicknamed the "Iron Lady" of Japan because of her admiration of the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, reports the BBC
...

Pearl Jam Loses a Longtime Member
Pearl Jam Loses
27-Year Member
Jul 8, 2025 7:12 AM CDT

Pearl Jam Loses 27-Year Member

Drummer Matt Cameron exits

(Newser) - Pearl Jam has its first defection in 27 years. Drummer Matt Cameron announced Monday that he's leaving the band he saw through its infancy. He played on Pearl Jam's early demos in 1990, even before frontman Eddie Vedder got involved, but his commitment to the band Soundgarden meant...

Chimps Drum With Distinct Rhythms to Communicate
Who's Got Rhythm?
The Chimps
NEW STUDY
May 9, 2025 2:08 PM CDT

Who's Got Rhythm? The Chimps

Researchers find each chimp has a unique drumming style they use to communicate

(Newser) - Chimps and humans appear to share a common trait—the ability to drum. Researchers analyzed 371 instances of chimpanzees hitting tree trunks and found the primates keep a regular rhythm, suggesting a musical ability that predates humans, reports the AP . "Our ability to produce rhythm, and to use...

Your New '12 Days of Christmas' Bill: $50K

PNC Bank tallies it up

(Newser) - Well, it's the first day of Christmas (or just, you know, "Christmas"), so it's time to get cracking on the gifts named in that perennial earworm "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Turns out you can—and PNC's Christmas Price Index did—put a...

My Chemical Romance's Ex-Drummer Found Dead at 44

Law enforcement tells TMZ that Bob Bryar was discovered in his Tennessee home

(Newser) - Bob Bryar, a former drummer with My Chemical Romance who played on the band's career-defining rock opera, The Black Parade, has died, according to the band. He was 44. "The band asks for your patience and understanding as they process the news of Bob's passing," a...

2 Bee Gees Drummers Die 4 Days Apart

Band's original drummer, plus drummer from its disco era, were both in their 70s

(Newser) - Two drummers for the Bee Gees died within four days of one another this month. Dennis Bryon, 76, died last Thursday; on Monday, Colin "Smiley" Petersen died at 78. Petersen was the band's original drummer, and played during the band's "hit ballads" era from 1967-70 on...

A Butthole Surfer, Symbol of Generation X, Is Gone

Teresa Taylor, also of 'Slacker' fame, accepted end-stage lung disease diagnosis with grace

(Newser) - Teresa Taylor, who drummed with the punk-rock band Butthole Surfers in the 1980s, has died at age 60. The band announced her death Monday, saying she "passed away peacefully this weekend after a long battle with lung disease." In her own post, Taylor's partner and caretaker, Cheryl...

Drummer on Famous Pulp Fiction Song Dead at 57
Drummer on
Famous Pulp
Fiction Song
Dead at 57
OBITUARY
Jun 15, 2023 9:35 AM CDT

Drummer on Famous Pulp Fiction Song Dead at 57

Urge Overkill's John Rowan (aka Blackie Onassis) kept the beat on 'Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon'

(Newser) - Sad news for fans of Urge Overkill, and for fans of the Pulp Fiction soundtrack: The band's drummer, John Rowan, has died at the age of 57, reports Pitchfork . "Urge Overkill is saddened to report that Blackie has passed away," the group wrote Wednesday on Instagram , referring...

Foo Fighters Have a New Drummer
Foo Fighters Have
a New Drummer
May 22, 2023 11:55 AM CDT

Foo Fighters Have a New Drummer

Josh Freese will replace the late, beloved Taylor Hawkins

(Newser) - More than a year after Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins died in a Bogota hotel while on tour at the age of 50, the band has finally found a worthy replacement. As Pitchfork reports, he's session drummer Josh Freese, whose dizzying credits include gigs with the Offspring, Rob Zombie,...

Modest Mouse Drummer 'Laid Down to Rest,' Then 'Faded Out'

Pacific Northwest rock band had just announced Jeremiah Green's cancer diagnosis days ago

(Newser) - Jeremiah Green, the founding drummer for the rock band Modest Mouse, has died just days after the band announced he'd been diagnosed with cancer. He was 45. Green was barely in his teens when he joined the newly formed Modest Mouse, which featured singer-guitarist Isaac Brock and bassist Eric...

Dead Kennedys Drummer Dies in Accidental Fall
Dead Kennedys Drummer
Dies in Accidental Fall
OBITUARY
Oct 31, 2022 12:38 PM CDT

Dead Kennedys Drummer Dies in Accidental Fall

"I feel like I’ve been hit by a train,' Jello Biafra says of DH Peligro's death

(Newser) - DH Peligro, longtime drummer for seminal California punk band the Dead Kennedys, has died at age 63. He died Friday at his Los Angeles home, and police at the scene "stated that he died from trauma to the head caused by an accidental fall," the band said in...

Drummer Played With Buddy Holly and Married Peggy Sue

Jerry Allison, the last original member of the Cricketts, co-wrote series of hits

(Newser) - Jerry Allison, an architect of rock drumming who played and co-wrote songs with childhood friend Buddy Holly and whose future wife inspired the classic "Peggy Sue," has died. He was 82 and was the last surviving original member of the Crickets, the band that backed Holly, the AP...

18-Year-Old Fan Fills in for Pearl Jam's Drummer

Kai Neukermans contacted band after Matt Cameron tested positive for COVID

(Newser) - Days after 18-year-old Kai Neukermans went to a Pearl Jam concert in Inglewood, California, he found himself drumming for the grunge legends at their Oakland concert. The high school student has played at big festivals with his band The Alive, but he tells SFGate that the Friday gig at the...

Foo Fighters Drummer Taylor Hawkins Dead at 50
For Foo Fighters,
a 'Tragic and
Untimely Loss'
OBITUARY
Mar 26, 2022 6:00 AM CDT

For Foo Fighters, a 'Tragic and Untimely Loss'

Drummer Taylor Hawkins dies at 50 while on tour with band in Bogota, Colombia

(Newser) - Taylor Hawkins, the drummer for Foo Fighters for 25 years and best friend of frontman Dave Grohl, has died during a South American tour with the rock band. He was 50. There were no immediate details on how Hawkins died, although the band said in a statement Friday that his...

Elvis Presley's Drummer Dies at 83
He Backed 'The King' For Years
obituary
Oct 18, 2021 12:00 AM CDT

He Backed 'The King' For Years

Drummer Ronnie Tutt was 83

(Newser) - From 1969 until Elvis Presley's death in 1977, Ronnie Tutt played drums for "The King." Now Tutt, 83, is dead, TMZ reports. His wife says he had a longtime heart condition and there was no longer anything that could be done to treat it; "he couldn'...

Member of Alabama Shakes Accused of Child Abuse

Arrested drummer Steven Johnson had previously pleaded guilty to violating ex's protective order

(Newser) - A member of the rock band Alabama Shakes was arrested last week and hit with child abuse charges, a year after pleading guilty to breaching a protective order from his ex-wife. The Limestone County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama confirms to Rolling Stone that drummer Steven William Johnson was arrested...

World's 'Fastest Girl Drummer' Is Gone
World's 'Fastest
Girl Drummer' Is Gone
obituary
Oct 25, 2020 4:30 PM CDT

World's 'Fastest Girl Drummer' Is Gone

Viola Smith has died at 107

(Newser) - The "fastest girl drummer in the world" is gone. Viola Smith, a swing musician who fought for female inclusion in the big-band era, died Wednesday at home in Costa Mesa, Calif., the Washington Post reports. She was 107. At a time when jazz giants like Artie Shaw and Benny...

10-Year-Old to Dave Grohl: 'Check! Mate!'

The Foo Fighters founder accepts Nandi Bushell's challenge

(Newser) - Seen Nandi Bushell play the drums? Dave Grohl sure has, and he drummed right back. What Mashable calls "an adorable remote drum battle" began when the 10-year-old tweeted video of herself ripping into the Foo Fighters' hit song "Everlong" and saying, "Mr Grohl I would love to...

Ginger Baker, Cream's Volatile Drummer, Dies
Iconic '60s Supergroup
Drummer Dead 
OBITUARY
Oct 6, 2019 7:47 AM CDT

Iconic '60s Supergroup Drummer Dead

Ginger Baker, Cream's volatile drummer, dies at age 80

(Newser) - Ginger Baker, the volatile and propulsive British musician best known for his time with the power trio Cream, died Sunday at age 80, reports the AP . Baker wielded his blues power and jazz technique to help break open popular music and become one of the world's most admired and...

One of the Most Recorded Musicians in History Is Dead

Session drummer Hal Blaine played on scores of '60s, '70s hits

(Newser) - You may not have heard the name Hal Blaine, but if you've heard music from the '60s and '70s, you've heard him play. Blaine, an extremely prolific session drummer who became one of the most recorded musicians of all time, has died at the age of...

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