Abraham Benjamin Cunningham (born July 27, 1973) is an American musician, best known as the drummer of the

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With r ...

band

Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by Chino Moreno (vocals, guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums), and Dominic Garcia (bass). During their first five ...

Life and career

Abe Cunningham was born in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. When he was young, his family moved to

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

. He first started drumming in his early teens playing the drums for the band

Phallucy Phallucy was a rock/alternative metal band from Sacramento, California. The band's drummer, Abe Cunningham, later became the drummer with the band Deftones, which is now a worldwide success. Phallucy has reunited three times: in 1999, 2001 and f ...

in the early 90s. During this time, he also drummed for

on the side, when the band was having problems landing a permanent and dedicated drummer. At the time when he started learning drums, he also learned how to play guitar, but growing up with a stepfather (Neil) who played the drums, he took a deeper passion with the drums. Abe's father, Sid, was also a musician and an early influence for Abe before his untimely passing. His influences include

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...

Ginger Baker Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and Music of Africa, Africa ...

and

Mitch Mitchell John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 194612 November 2008)In his book about the Experience, Mitchell states he celebrated his 21st birthday while on tour on 9 July 1967, which makes his birth year 1946.Mitchell's obituaries in ''Billboard' ''T ...

. Cunningham is known for his frantic, pounding rhythms on such songs as "Knife Prty" and clever usage of tempo ("Mein"), while at the same time refusing to indulge in the double bass drum setup of many metal traditionalists. However, he does use a double bass pedal as part of his kit, as seen in various drum magazines. A BBC reviewer has praised his style for displaying "the assured expressiveness of a musician whose abilities stretch further than most metal-scene sticksmen". Cunningham has been a long time endorser of

Tama Drums Tama Drums, (from Japanese: (Kanji), (Kana), read as ) is a brand of drum kits and hardware manufactured and marketed by the Japanese musical instrument company, Hoshino Gakki. Tama's research and development of products, along with producti ...

and

Zildjian Cymbals :''Zildjian leads here. For people with the surname, see Zildjian (disambiguation)'' The Avedis Zildjian Company, simply known as Zildjian (), is a musical instrument manufacturer specializing in cymbals and other percussion instruments. Founded ...

, and for most of his career, has played the same setup. He has been featured in various ads for Tama and

Zildjian :''Zildjian leads here. For people with the surname, see Zildjian (disambiguation)'' The Avedis Zildjian Company, simply known as Zildjian (), is a musical instrument manufacturer specializing in cymbals and other percussion instruments. Founded ...

. He is an endorser of Vater drumsticks. NAMM 2017 revealed his new signature Vater drumsticks, the model is called "Cool Breeze" (which is Abe's nickname of sorts). Abe lives in

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, California, with his family. He has two sons, Sidney and Daniel, with his ex-wife, Annalynn Seal. Annalynn made a guest appearance on "MX" singing along with

Chino Moreno Chino Moreno (born Camillo Wong Moreno, June 20, 1973) is an American musician who is best known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist and contributing guitarist of the metal band Deftones. He is also a member of the side-project groups Team Sl ...

Discography

With Deftones

* ''

Adrenaline Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands and ...

'' (1995, Maverick Records/Warner Bros. Records) * ''

Around the Fur ''Around the Fur'' is the second studio album by American alternative metal band Deftones, released on October 28, 1997, by Maverick Records. The songs "My Own Summer (Shove It)" and "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)" were released as singles with ...

'' (1997, Maverick Records/Warner Bros. Records) * ''

White Pony ''White Pony'' is the third studio album by American alternative metal band Deftones, released on June 20, 2000, through Maverick Records. It was produced by Terry Date, who produced the band's first two albums, ''Adrenaline'' (1995) and ''Arou ...

'' (2000, Maverick Records) * ''

'' (2003, Maverick Records) * ''

Saturday Night Wrist ''Saturday Night Wrist'' is the fifth studio album by American alternative metal band Deftones, released on October 31, 2006, by Maverick Records. Despite early contributions that were later scrapped, it marked the departure of mainstay Deftones ...

'' (2006, Maverick Records) * ''

Diamond Eyes ''Diamond Eyes'' is the sixth studio album by American alternative metal band Deftones, released on May 4, 2010, by Reprise Records. It was the first album to feature bassist Sergio Vega, who replaced original bassist Chi Cheng. An album tenta ...

'' (2010, Warner Bros. Records/Reprise Records) * ''

Koi No Yokan ''Koi No Yokan'' is the seventh studio album by American alternative metal band Deftones, released on November 12, 2012, by Reprise Records. Its title is a phrase from Japanese language "恋の予感", translating to "premonition of love". ''K ...

'' (2012, Warner Bros. Records/Reprise Records) * ''

Gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitouli ...

'' (2016, Reprise Records) * '' Ohms'' (2020, Reprise Records) * ''

Eros In Greek mythology, Eros (, ; grc, Ἔρως, Érōs, Love, Desire) is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire").''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the earli ...

'' (originally intended for 2008, currently unreleased)

References

External links

Official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Abe Musicians from California Deftones members 1973 births Living people American heavy metal drummers Nu metal drummers 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 21st-century American drummers