Brie Howard-Darling (also known and credited as Brie Darling, Brie Howard, Brie Brandt, and Brie Berry) is an American drummer, singer, percussionist, songwriter, artist, cake designer, and actress of Filipino and European descent. She has recorded with such recording artists as

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

ELO Elo or ELO may refer to: Music * Electric Light Orchestra, a British rock music group ** ''The Electric Light Orchestra'' (album), the group's debut album ** ''ELO 2'', the group's second album * ELO Part II, an offshoot band of Electric Light ...

Keith Moon Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour and addiction to drugs and alcohol. Moon grew ...

, The Temptations,

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffet ...

, Melissa Manchester,

Janiva Magness Janiva Magness (born January 30, 1957) is an American Grammy Award nominated blues, soul music, soul, and Americana (music), Americana singer, songwriter, and author. To date she has released 16 albums. The Blues Foundation named Magness the B.B ...

, and Glen Campbell. She has toured extensively with Martin Mull, Kiki Dee, Jack Wagner, Bruce Willis,

Robert Palmer Robert Allen Palmer (19 January 1949 – 26 September 2003) was an English singer and songwriter. He was known for his powerful, soulful voice and wikt:sartorial, sartorial elegance, and his stylistic explorations, combining Soul music, so ...

, Robbie Nevil, and

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

. She has been a band member of

Fanny Fanny may refer to: Given name * Fanny (name), a feminine given name or a nickname, often for Frances In slang * A term for the vulva, in Britain and many other parts of the English-speaking world * A term for the buttocks, in the United States ...

, American Girls,

Boxing Gandhis The Boxing Gandhis are an American alternative funk/soul band from Los Angeles founded by music producer Dave Darling, David Darling (Brian Setzer, Meredith Brooks, Sprung Monkey). The group was signed to the record label Mesa Blue Moon in 1993 and ...

, Fanny Walked The Earth, and Cherie Currie & Brie Darling.

Early life

Howard-Darling was born (August 9, 1949) in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...

and raised in

Folsom, California Folsom is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States. It is commonly known for Folsom State Prison, the song "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash, as well as for Folsom Lake. The population was 80,454 at the 2020 census. Folsom is pa ...

, a suburb of Sacramento, California to parents Elmo Robert Berry and Angeles Calamaya. Darling is a sixth generation Californian. She began performing professionally at fourteen years old with the band, ''The Kee-Notes'', and became a member of the Sacramento Musician's Union in 1964. In 1965 the band recorded three songs for Esar Records, making Darling one of the first female rock drummers to record rock music. She credits her younger and older brothers as her greatest early influences, as they were both musicians, and there was a drum kit in their living room where she could practice. In 1966, she joined the all-female Sacramento band The Svelts, which would later evolve into

, becoming the first all-woman band to be signed to a major record label to record a full album. In 1967, Howard-Darling married Mike Brandt. She gave birth to her daughter

Brandi Brandt Brandi Angela Brandt (born November 2, 1968) is an American model and actress, who was ''Playboy's'' Playmate of the Month for October 1987. Early life Brandt was born on November 2, 1968, in Santa Clara, California to parents Mike Brandt an ...

in 1968.

Career

Fanny

Howard-Darling joined former band members in Los Angeles in 1970, forming a short-lived lineup of the all-female band

as the lead singer. A decision was made to change the number of band members from five members to four creating more of a ''Fab Four'' image. She left the band and pursued other musical ventures. Howard-Darling rejoined

in 1974, recording ''Rock and Roll Survivors'' released on Casablanca Records. The first single, "I've Had It" reached #79 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their second single, ''Butter Boy'', spent 11 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at #29 on April 5, 1975. Fanny was the first all-woman rock band to release an album on a major label. After a U.S. tour promoting the album, Darling (Brie Howard) left the band. David Bowie said of Fanny in 1999 to '' Rolling Stone'':

They were one of the finest ... rock bands of their time. They were extraordinary: They wrote everything ... they were just colossal and wonderful, and nobody's ever mentioned them. They're as important as anybody else who's ever been, ever; it just wasn't their time.

In 2018, original band members Jean Millington (bass), June Millington (lead guitar), and Howard-Darling reunited as Fanny Walked the Earth, releasing an eponymous album, their first recording together in more than 40 years. It features several female musicians who have credited Fanny with helping open the door for them decades ago, among them the Runaways’ Cherie Currie, the Go-Go's Kathy Valentine, the Bangles’

Susanna Hoffs Susanna Lee Hoffs (born January 17, 1959) is an American singer and guitarist, best known as a co-founder of the pop-rock band The Bangles. Hoffs founded The Bangles (originally called the Bangs) in 1981 with Debbi and Vicki Peterson. They re ...

, Vicki and

Debbi Peterson Deborah Mary Peterson (born August 22, 1961) is an American musician and the drummer of the band The Bangles. She sang lead vocals on two of the band's released singles, " Going Down to Liverpool" (1984) and "Be with You" (1989). She is the you ...

, veteran rock singer and musician Genya Ravan and former Fanny member Patti Quatro, the sister of Suzi Quatro.

American Girls

American Girls (band) were an American

all-female band An all-female band is a musical group in popular music that is exclusively composed of female musicians. This is distinct from a girl group, in which the female members are solely vocalists, though this terminology is not universally followed. While ...

based in California, United States.Golstein, Patrick (27 July 1986)
Pop Eye
'' Los Angeles Times'' The band consisted of Howard-Darling (vocals, drums, percussion), Hilary Shepard (vocals, percussion), DB Tressler (guitar), Miiko Watanabe (bass, backing vocals) and Teresa James (keyboards, backing vocals). Original members included Louise Goffin (rhythm guitar, lead and backing vocals) and Daryl Hannah (keyboards). American Girls released one album, in 1986 titled ''American Girls''. The video for their single "American Girl" received some airplay on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. Their song "Androgynous" appeared in the 1986 film '' Tough Guys'' and the song "American Girl" appeared on the soundtrack for '' Out of Bounds''. They also opened for The Lords of the New Church on 1986 tour dates. Miles Copeland III (brother of the Police's Stewart Copeland) was the band's manager.

Touring drummer, percussionist and vocalist

Aside from Howard-Darling's own music projects and bands, she has toured extensively with other successful recording artists, most notably with

and

. Starting in 1990, she toured with King as a percussionist and vocalist for five years in the U.S. and internationally. Darling performed with Jimmy Buffett on five tours over a span of five years and with Robert Palmer for two U.S. tours and one international tour.

Boxing Gandhis

Howard-Darling and her husband, Dave Darling are the founders of

which was signed to the record label, Mesa Blue Moon in 1993. The band has recorded three albums. They climbed the charts with a #5 hit on the Billboard Triple A (Adult Album Alternative) charts with the song, ''If You Love Me (Why Am I Dyin')'' off their debut album after touring the US as opening act for the Dave Matthews Band and Big Head Todd and the Monsters. The song's music video also garnered a Billboard Music Award for "Video of the Year" which was directed by Brian Lockwood (director). ''If You Love Me (Why Am I Dyin')'' was featured in Episode 3 of the 2011 season of the HBO Original Series True Blood. *''Boxing Gandhis'' (1994, Mesa Records) *''Howard'' (1996, Atlantic Records) *''Culture War'' (2019, Blue Elan Records)

Fanny Walked The Earth

In 2016, Howard-Darling joined a live performance by her former Fanny bandmates June and Jean Millington. This inspired the formation of a new band called Fanny Walked the Earth. An album of all-new songs with the same title was released in March 2018. The album marks the first time June, Jean, and Brie all recorded at the same time in over 40 years.

Cherie Currie and Brie Darling

Currie and Howard-Darling (credited as Brie Darling) recorded ''The Motivator'', a full-length album that was released on August 2, 2019 on Blue Elan Records.

Filmography

Acting

* 1982 ''

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

'' as Maggie * 1986 '' Simon & Simon'' as Hooker * 1987 ''

The Return of Bruno ''The Return of Bruno'' is a 1987 comedic film, originally aired as a one-hour special on HBO and later released on VHS. It is a mockumentary starring Bruce Willis as his fictitious alter-ego "Bruno Radolini," a legendary blues singer/musician wh ...

'' as The Singers * 1987 ''Alexander O'Neal: Criticize'' as Drummer * 1988 '' Tapeheads'' as Flygirl * 1989 '' The Runnin' Kind'' as "Thunder" * 1990 ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

'' as Congas * 1994 '' Somebody to Love'' as Band Member

Music videos and television appearances

Howard-Darling has performed with a variety of recording artists on television shows such as ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

'', ''

Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series w ...

'', '' The David Letterman Show'', '' The Tonight Show'', '' Don Kirshner's Rock Concert'', '' The Midnight Special'', '' The Joan Rivers Show'', and '' The Mike Douglas Show''. * 1986 Robbie Nevil - " C'est la Vie" - Music Video - Percussion and Vocals - MTV Music Video Award - Best Cinematography * 1986 Robbie Nevil - "

Wot's It To Ya "Wot's It to Ya" is the third single by American musician Robbie Nevil from his self-titled debut album, released as a single in May 1987 by Manhattan Records. It peaked at number 10 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Lyrics and writing The so ...

" - Music Video - Percussion and Vocals * 1986 Robbie Nevil - " Dominoes" - Music Video - Percussion and Vocals * 1987 Deniece Williams - "Never Say Never" - Music Video - Percussion and Vocals * 1987 Alexander O'Neal - "Criticize" - Music Video - Percussion and Vocals * 1990 A'me Lorain - "Whole Wide World" - Music Video - Percussion * 1990 Natalie Cole - " Wild Women Do" - Music Video - Percussion and Vocals * 1990

- ''In Concert'' Televised Concert - Percussion and Vocals * 1991 Robbie Nevil - "Just Like You" - Music Video - Percussion and Vocals * 1993

- "If You Love Me (Why Am I Dyin')" - Music Video - Percussion and Vocals -

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

Music Award * 1993 ''Culture Clash'' TV Series - Band Member * 2000 Don't Forget Your Toothbrush - Band Member * 2017 Women of Rock Oral History Project at the Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College

Nightline - Michael Jackson ''Thriller'' album

"Nightline", a song co-written by Howard-Darling, Glen Ballard and Davey Faragher, was recorded by Michael Jackson and slated to be released on Michael Jackson's ''Thriller'' album in 1983 but was pulled before the release. The song had been recently recorded and released by Randy Crawford, The Pointer Sisters, and Ellen Foley.

Brie Darling Cakes

Howard-Darling began creating artistic cakes in 2010. Darling invented the process of baking leopard print cakes.

Cake Wars

In 2016 she and her granddaughter, Storm Sixx, won 1st place and $10,000 as contestants in Season 2 of the Food Network's Cake Wars where four bakers face off to have their cakes featured in a special event.

Discography

References

External links

* *
Brie Howard discography at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Brie Living people American women drummers American funk singers American rock drummers 1949 births 20th-century American drummers 20th-century American women musicians Fanny (band) members American Girls (band) members 21st-century American drummers 21st-century American women musicians