Cherisse Osei (born 23 December 1986) is an English drummer. Best known for her work with the band

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...

, Osei has also played with a number of acts, including

Mantas Mantas is a Lithuanian given name. Mantas is also a surname found in several European countries including Portugal, Spain, Greece, Germany, and others. The exact connection between the different regions of occurrence is presently unknown, although ...

The Faders The Faders were a British female pop rock band, formed in January 2004 by Polydor Records. Bassist/keyboardist Toy Valentine and drummer Cherisse Osei were the first members to get through the first audition. Frontwoman and lead guitarist, ...

Paloma Faith Paloma Faith Blomfield (born 21 July 1981) is an English singer and actress. Her debut studio album, ''Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?,'' was released in 2009 and was certified double platinum in the UK. The album spawned the sing ...

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ''The Independent'', Ferry an ...

Kelly Jones Kelly Jones (born 3 June 1974) is a Welsh singer-songwriter and a founding member, lead singer, and guitarist of the rock band Stereophonics. Early life and debut Kelly Jones was born youngest of three boys for Beryl and Arwyn Jones in the s ...

, and

Mika Mika is a given name, a nickname and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People known just as Mika * Mika (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter Michael Penniman, Jr. * Mika (footbal ...

. In 2018, Osei won first place in the ‘Live Session Drummer’ category for

Rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...

magazine's Music Radar polls. As a member of

, Osei appeared on the series

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...

. She cites

John Bonham John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Led Zeppelin. Esteemed for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove,J ...

Sheila E. Sheila Cecilia Escovedo (born December 12, 1957) better known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American percussionist and singer. She began her career in the mid-1970s as a percussionist and singer for The George Duke Band. After leaving t ...

Steve Gadd Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the ''Modern D ...

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. H ...

, Tony Williams, and

James Gadson James Gadson ( James Edward Gadson; born June 17, 1939) is an American drummer and session musician. Beginning his career in the late 1960s, Gadson has since become one of the most-recorded drummers in the history of R&B. He is also a singer and ...

as influences.

Early life

Osei grew up interested in becoming an actress or dancer but her parents' interest in music exposed her to "funk, jazz, hip hop and soul" and cultivated an interest in music. At the age of five she received a "pink

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

drum kit A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player ( drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsti ...

" from her uncle: although it was her first exposure to drumming, it would only resonate later, at the age of 11, when a drum club was organized in her school and she felt compelled to permanently take the instrument up. By the age of 12, Osei had started playing in bands. When Osei was 15, she worked at a local music store in

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, which she credits with giving her exposure to drummers she "looked up to."

Musical career

Osei was the drummer for

from 2004 through 2006. The band was signed to

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

and released the singles " No Sleep Tonight" and "Jump," each reaching numbers 13 and 21 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, respectively. The Faders appeared on

and their music was featured on the show's soundtrack. In 2004, she recorded the drums for

album Zero Tolerance. From 2006 through 2012 Osei played drums on

's studio work and tours. Her work with Mika led to appearances on

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

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Jimmy Kimmel Live ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's lead ...

South by South West South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, T ...

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. ...

Fuji Rock Festival is an annual rock festival held in Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The three-day event, organized by Smash Japan, features more than 200 Japanese and international musicians, making it the largest outdoor music event in Japan. ...

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

, and V Festival. During this period, she played drums in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics closing ceremony, performing a commissioned piece by composer Philip Sheppard in the

Beijing National Stadium The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, p ...

, an event that reached 1.5 billion TV viewers. In 2012, Osei began working with

and

. She was featured with these artists on

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the ''Late Night'' franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production company ...

and

. In 2016, Osei joined the band

for their "acoustic phase" and recorded the album Acoustic with the band. In early 2017 Simple Minds embarked on a full production tour in Australia and New Zealand, drummer

Mel Gaynor Mel George Gaynor (born 29 May 1959) is a British drummer, best known as the longtime drummer for the rock band Simple Minds. Biography Gaynor was born to a Jamaican father and an Afro-Brazilian mother. He began drumming at age 11 and had ...

's last tour with the band before Osei rejoined and replaced him for a stripped down, acoustic tour the remainder of the year. Osei appeared on three tracks of the 2018 album Walk Between Worlds (the album was recorded before, during, and after the acoustic tours and the Acoustic album release) and joined the band as their full-time drummer for the promotional tour. The tour, which launched in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and included the first North American shows for the band in five years, was met with praise:

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

credited the band with sounding "less blokey," "modern and impressively energised." As of 2019, Simple Minds has been recording material for a new album with Osei, aiming for a 2021 release. In 2019, Osei joined

on his third solo tour. Her first performances with Jones took place on June 1 at

Usher Hall The Usher Hall is a concert hall in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has hosted concerts and events since its construction in 1914 and can hold approximately 2,200 people in its recently restored auditorium, which is well loved by performers due to its ...

, in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

References

External links

Official Cherisse Osei website

Official Simple Minds website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osei, Cherisse Musicians from London Living people Simple Minds members 1986 births English rock drummers British women drummers