Donnie Hamzik (born October 18, 1956) is an American musician and the former drummer of the heavy metal band

Manowar Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the group is known for lyrics based on fantasy (particularly sword and sorcery) and mythology (particularly Norse mythology and Greco-Roman mythology), as well as ...

Career

Hamzik was born in

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

. He was discovered by

Joey DeMaio Joey DeMaio (born March 6, 1954) is an American musician who is the bass player and main songwriter for the heavy metal band Manowar which he founded in 1980. He is also the founder and CEO of Magic Circle Music. Biography He is a childhoo ...

in the rock club Agora Ballroom in Hollywood, FL when a mutual friend brought DeMaio down to see Hamzik play. It was not until a year later, when Manowar had secured their record deal with

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...

, that DeMaio and

Ross the Boss Ross Friedman (born January 3, 1954), also known as Ross the Boss, is a guitarist, known as a founding member of both the punk band the Dictators, and the heavy metal band Manowar. History Friedman was born in the Bronx, New York, and formed t ...

went to Florida and played together with Hamzik and recorded their debut album Battle Hymns. At that point, Hamzik was officially a member of Manowar. Hamzik left the band in 1983 and was replaced by

Scott Columbus Scott Columbus (November 10, 1956 – April 5, 2011) was an American drummer, best known for his long period of collaboration with Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Manowar (band), Manowar. Biography Born Walter Scott Columbus, youngest of fou ...

. He again appeared with Manowar on stage during "Earthshaker" Fest 2005 in Germany along with all other Manowar members past and present. In 2009, Hamzik reunited with Manowar, due to personal differences between Columbus and the rest of the band. He took part in Magic Circle Festival 2009 and also recorded the EP

Thunder in the Sky ''Thunder in the Sky'' is an EP released in 2009 by the heavy metal band Manowar, promoting the upcoming full-length album '' The Lord of Steel''. However none of the songs are included on that album, and with the exception of the original vers ...

. On October 15, 2010, DeMaio announced on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

that Hamzik was officially a member of Manowar again after a 26-year absence. For 2017's The Final Battle tour, Manowar replaced Hamzik with Brazilian drummer

Marcus Castellani Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44 * Mărcuş, a village in Dobâr ...

References

External links

Official Manowar website
Manowar members American heavy metal drummers Living people 1956 births {{drummer-stub