Gary Holland (born Gary Hallinan, September 14, 1958) is an American hard rock and heavy metal drummer who worked in the 1980s with bands originating from California. He is perhaps best known for being the original drummer in Great White and for his brief stint in

Dokken Dokken is an American glam metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. It split up in 1989 and reformed four years later. The band had several hit singles which charted on the Billboard Hot 100, such as " Alone Again", " In My Dreams", and " Burn ...

. He later played as a session musician and soundtrack contributor.

Career

Holland was born in Syracuse, New York. After high school, he moved to Los Angeles, where he co-founded a rock trio called Suite 19, playing clubs in Hollywood and the surrounding areas. By 1980, Holland was a member of an early version of

, headlining one tour of Europe. After leaving Dokken in 1981, he was briefly a member of Sister, which later became W.A.S.P. A chance encounter with Dante Fox guitarist, Mark Kendall, at The Troubadour in

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most prominent gay villages ...

led to an audition. Holland officially joined Kendall, vocalist Jack Russell, and bassist Don Costa in Dante Fox in November 1981. After replacing Costa with Lorne Black in 1982, Dante Fox changed their name to Great White. Holland appeared on Great White's EP '' Out of the Night'' and on the albums '' Great White'' and '' Recovery: Live!'', as well as in the music videos for the songs "Stick It" and " Substitute". Holland was a founding member of Britton and provided drums and backing vocals on the group's 1988 release, ''Rock Hard''. He toured Europe as the drummer for

Blue Cheer Blue Cheer was an American rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009. Based in San Francisco, Blue Cheer played in a psychedelic blues rock or acid rock style, and ...

in 1993, and provided backing vocals on

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

's albums '' Ozzmosis'' and '' Prince of Darkness''. Holland worked also on

Twisted Sister Twisted Sister was an American heavy metal band originally from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York. Their best-known songs include " We're Not Gonna Take It" and " I Wanna Rock", both of which were associated with ...

's '' Come Out and Play'', on

Autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Inter ...

's ''

That's the Stuff ''That's the Stuff'' is the second studio album by the American glam metal band Autograph, released in 1985 by RCA Records. The album featured the singles "That's the Stuff" and "Blondes in Black Cars." A different version of the album was reiss ...

'' and on

Don Dokken Donald Maynard Dokken (born June 29, 1953) is an American singer and musician. He's best known for being the lead singer, occasional guitarist, and founder of the glam metal band Dokken. He is known for his vibrato-laden, melodic vocal style wh ...

's '' Up from the Ashes''. He also collaborated with Mike Inez of

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

and Gilby Clarke of Guns N' Roses. He supported tours for

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own en ...

(UK),

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

(US) and Judas Priest (North America). Holland appeared in and/or contributed songs to soundtracks of the following: ''Joe Piscopo HBO Comedy Special'' starring

Joe Piscopo Joseph Charles John Piscopo ( ; born June 17, 1951) is an American actor, comedian and conservative radio talk show host. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1980 to 1984, where he played a variety of recurring characters. His f ...

and Eddie Murphy; ''

Can't Buy Me Love "Can't Buy Me Love" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released in March 1964 as the A-side of their sixth single. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The song was included ...

'' starring

Patrick Dempsey Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is an American actor and race car driver. He is best known for his role as neurosurgeon Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in ''Grey's Anatomy''. He had early success as an actor, starring in a number of fi ...

; ''Rock and Roll Mom'' starring

Dyan Cannon Dyan Cannon (born Samille Diane Friesen; January 4, 1937) is an American actress, director, screenwriter, producer, and editor. Her accolades include a Saturn Award, a Golden Globe Award, three Academy Award nominations, and a star on the Holly ...

Heather Locklear Heather Deen Locklear (born September 25, 1961) is an American actress famous for her role as Amanda Woodward on ''Melrose Place'' (1993–1999), for which she received four consecutive Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress – Television ...

and

Fran Drescher Francine Joy Drescher (born September 30, 1957) is an American actress, comedian, writer, activist, and trade union leader. She is known for her role as Fran Fine in the television sitcom '' The Nanny'' (1993–1999), which she created and prod ...

; ''

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay ''Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay'' is a 2008 American buddy stoner comedy film written and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. The sequel to '' Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle'' (2004), it is the second installment in th ...

''; ''

Maid to Order ''Maid to Order'' is a 1987 American comedy/fantasy film. It is a variation on the Cinderella formula, where the fairy godmother is not the means to a better life for the heroine, but rather the nemesis. Rather than doing so out of malice, thoug ...

'' starring

Ally Sheedy Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy (born June 13, 1962) is an American actress. Following her film debut in 1983's '' Bad Boys'', she became known as one of the Brat Pack group of actors and starred in '' WarGames'' (1983), ''The Breakfast Club'' (1985) ...

Equipment

In 2001, Holland used

Mapex Drums Mapex Drums (Music And Percussion EXcellence) is a Taiwanese brand of musical instruments established by KHS Musical Instruments in 1989. Instruments manufactured with the "Mapex" name include drum kits and hardware. Products Mapex produces se ...

, Aquarian heads, RIMS drum mounts and

Paiste Paiste (English pronunciation: , ) is a Swiss musical instrument manufacturing company. It is the world's third largest manufacturer of cymbals, gongs, and metal percussion. is an Estonian word that means "shine". Apart from cymbals and gong ...

cymbals with

Pro-Mark Promark is a Houston, Texas-based American drum stick company. Since 2011, it is part of strings company D'Addario. Promark is a widely known stick company generally played in drum set, drum and bugle corps and concert bands. History Promark w ...

2S hickory nylon tip drumsticks and DW 9000 bass drum pedals. For his vocals, a

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

CM-311A headset vocal mic.Squid, Waldo T. "New Blood." DRUM! 01Mar2001: 38. Print.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Gary American heavy metal drummers Great White members Living people 1958 births Musicians from Syracuse, New York Musicians from Los Angeles 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians