Gregory "Gigi" Gonaway is an American drummer and percussionist, born in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

. His father, Eldridge Gonaway was an attorney and city developer and his Mother, Lois (née Warrior) is a retired registered nurse. Gonaway has been making music since the 1970s and has played drums on recordings with artists such as

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed " The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston i ...

, Aretha Franklin,

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, play ...

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...

, and Steve Winwood among others and toured extensively with Mariah Carey and

Clarence Clemons Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. (January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011), also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death in 2011, he was the saxophonist for The E Street Band. Clemons released several s ...

. He was a protégé of Narada Michael Walden's in the 1980s and 1990s and worked at ''Tarpan'' recording studio with Walden on most of the major label acts he produced. Walden was an established music producer and drummer and took Gonaway under his wing as he said he reminded him of himself when he was a young drummer just starting out. Gonaway attributes much of his success to Walden.

Early Years

Gonaway began playing drums at ten years old. His parents relocated from Arizona to the San Francisco Bay Area in California where he attended a Catholic high school, Saint Mary's College High School where he learned to read, write, and arrange music under the guidance of Bob Barrett and played in the school's jazz band. Gonaway's first band was called ''Sapphire'' and they played the nightclub scene in Oakland. Later he formed the jazz fusion band, ''Iz Kidz'' who performed regularly in the San Francisco Bay Area. While performing in the jazz fusion band, ''Iz Kidz'' in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, Gonaway was introduced to Narada Michael Walden who took an interest in his drumming skills and shortly afterwards Walden hired him at his recording studio. Walden would later open ''Tarpan'' studio in

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish for " St. Raphael", ) is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's populatio ...

. Part of Gonaway's job was running errands and providing transportation to recording artists to and from the recording studio. Before long Walden was teaching him how to create beats on the drum machine and letting him play drum tracks on albums with Aretha Franklin and

Session Work and Touring

Walden mentored Gonaway in many areas of his musicianship including becoming a more diverse drummer developing programming skills and understanding the importance of production in the studio. Eventually, Gonaway was participating in Walden's recording projects for projects including recording artists Aretha Franklin,

Kenny G Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956), known professionally as Kenny G, is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, and producer. His 1986 album ''Duotones'' brought him commercial success. Kenny G is one of the best-selling artis ...

, George Michael and others.

Mariah Carey

In early 1990, Mariah Carey and producer

Walter Afanasieff Walter Afanasieff (born Vladimir Nikitich Afanasyev; February 10, 1958), formerly nicknamed Baby Love in the 1980s, is an American record producer and songwriter of Russian-Chinese descent. He was a collaborator with Mariah Carey on her first ...

formed the original Mariah Carey band, which included Gonaway, Randy Jackson, Vernon Black,

Ren Klyce Ren Klyce is a Japanese-American sound designer and sound mixer. He has been nominated for nine Academy Awards; six for Best Sound and three for Best Sound Editing. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with director David Fincher, ...

Dan Shea (producer) Daniel Martin Shea is an American record producer and composer who has worked with numerous artists including Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, Santana, Barbra Streisand, Jessica Simpson. Sara Evans, Rob Thomas, Mar ...

Peter Michael Escovedo Peter Michael Escovedo III (born July 7, 1961) is an American percussionist and musical director. Early life Escovedo was born in Alameda County, California, and is a member of a musical family, the son and namesake of percussionist Pete Escove ...

and engineer Dana John Chappelle. Gonaway's first televised performances with Carey were on

The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989, ...

and later on her controversial appearance on

Oprah Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', b ...

on which she discussed her racial makeup. Gonaway toured with Carey from 1990-2005.

The Aaron Hendra Project

Gonaway began playing drums with singer-songwriter, Aaron Hendra in 2009 which would later be named The Aaron Hendra Project. Hendra is married to reality TV actress, Tiffany Hendra of The Real Housewives of Dallas. Tiffany organized a charitable event on at The House of Blues in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, where Gonaway performed with The Aaron Hendra Project, at the ''Light Up Tomorrow'' event to raise funds that were used to build state-of-the-art off grid solar farms in the various East African orphanages, schools and facilities. The project was built and managed by Sam Childers, ''the Machine Gun Preacher'', through the ''Angels for East Africa organization''. The live performance aired in Season 1, Episode 7 on The Real Housewives of Dallas. Hendra and Gonaway also appeared in the romantic comedy film, Slightly Single in L.A. in 2013, performing live as The Aaron Hendra Project.

Film Appearances

Gonaway appeared in the

music video, ''I Get So Emotional'' playing percussion in 1987 and in Mariah Carey's

MTV Unplugged (Mariah Carey EP) ''MTV Unplugged'' is a live EP by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released in the United States on June 2, 1992, by Columbia Records. Following the success of Carey's previous two albums and the growing critical commentary on her la ...

live recording as Carey's drummer in 1992. Aaron Hendra and Gonaway appeared in the quirky romantic comedy, Slightly Single in L.A. in 2013 and on

Bravo (U.S. TV network) Bravo is an American basic cable television network, launched on December 8, 1980. It is owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. The channel originally focu ...

's The Real Housewives of Dallas in 2016 performing live as The Aaron Hendra Project.

Product Endorsements

Drum Workshop Drum Workshop, Inc. (also known as DW Drums or DW) is an American drum kit and hardware manufacturing company based in Oxnard, California. Current products by DW include drum sets, snare drums, and hardware. History Drum Workshop was founded ...

(DW) *

Remo Remo Inc. is an American musical instruments manufacturing company based in Valencia, California, and founded by Remo Belli in 1957. Products manufactured include drum kits, drumhead A drumhead or drum skin is a membrane stretched ov ...

Drumheads *

Vic Firth Everett Joseph "Vic" Firth (June 2, 1930 – July 26, 2015) was an American musician and the founder of Vic Firth Company (formerly Vic Firth, Inc.), a company that makes percussion sticks and mallets. Biography Vic Firth was born June 2, ...

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 ...

Discography

*2017 - ''Scorpio'' - Blaine Long - drums *2016 - ''Elvis Monroe'' - Elvis Monroe - drums *2014 - ''Face the Music'' -

Nils Lofgren Nils Hilmer Lofgren (born June 21, 1951) is an American rock musician, recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Along with his work as a solo artist, he has been a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 1984, a membe ...

- drums *2013- ''Octobersong'' - The Aaron Hendra Project - drums *2012 - ''Knew You Were Waiting: The Best of Aretha Franklin 1980-1998'' - Aretha Franklin - percussion *2009 - ''The Collection 2009'' -

- electronic percussion *2007 - ''Best When Lived (Life Is)'' - Greg Johnson - producer, drums, percussion *2006 - ''Destination You'' - Linda Imperial - drums, percussion *2005 - ''Favorites 1990-2005'' -

- drums *2004 - ''Kathi McDonald'' -

Kathi McDonald Kathryn Marie "Kathi" McDonald (September 25, 1948 – October 3, 2012) was an American blues and rock singer and songwriter. As a teenager she sang with different bands around the Pacific Northwest before she was discovered by Ike Turner. She s ...

- drums *2004 - ''Very Best of George Benson: The Greatest Hits of All'' -

- drums, cymbals, and percussion *2003 - ''The Greatest Hits of All '' -

- drums, cymbals, and percussion *2002 - ''Life and Love'' -

Philip Bailey Philip James Bailey (born May 8, 1951) is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter and percussionist, best known as an early member and one of the two lead singers (along with group founder Maurice White) of the band Earth, ...

- drums, writer *2000 - ''The George Benson Anthology'' -

- cymbals, electronic percussion *1998 - ''Best Kept Secret'' - Positive ID - drums, percussion *1998 - ''Phoenix Rising'' -

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

- cymbals *1998 - ''VH1 Divas Live'' - drums *1997 - ''Junction Seven'' - Steve Winwood - MIDI drums, percussion *1995 - ''Chill'' -

Lenny Williams Leonard Charles Williams (born February 16, 1945)"Biography by Alex Henderson"
AllMus ...

- producer, arranger, drums, percussion *1995 - ''The Best of George Benson (Warner Bros.)'' -

- cymbals *1994 - ''Greatest Hits: 1980-1994'' - Aretha Franklin - percussion *1992 - '' MTV_Unplugged_(Mariah_Carey_EP'' - Mariah Carey - drums *1991 - ''Time, Love and Tenderness'' -

Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin
, The Jewish Historical Society of New Haven, 1998. (born February 26, 1953), known professio ...

- timbales *1991 - ''Retrogroove Artifact'' - Rhythmtown Jive - percussion *1991 - ''Silver Lining'' -

- drums *1990 - ''It's Supposed to Be Fun'' - Lou Rawls - percussion *1989 - ''Stay With Me'' -

Regina Belle Regina Elaine Belle (born July 17, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter who started her career in the mid-1980s. Known for her singles " Baby Come to Me" (1989) and "Make It Like It Was" (1990), Belle's most notable for two hit duets, both with ...

- drums - gold record *1989 - ''D'Atra Hicks'' - D'Atra Hicks - cymbals *1989 - ''Good to Be Back'' -

- cymbals *1989 - ''Night with Mr. C'' -

- cymbals, percussion, performer, primary artist *1989 - ''So Happy'' - Eddie Murphy - percussion *1989 - ''Through the Storm'' - Aretha Franklin - percussion, cymbals *1989 - ''Pia Z'' -

Pia Zadora Pia Zadora (born Pia Alfreda Schipani, May 4, 1954) is an American actress and singer. After working as a child actress on Broadway, in regional theater, and in the film ''Santa Claus Conquers the Martians'' (1964), she came to national attention ...

- cymbals, percussion *1987 - ''Whitney'' -

- percussion *1986 - ''Aretha 1986'' - Aretha Franklin - percussion, vocals (background) *1986 - ''Duotones'' -

- drums, percussion *1986 - ''Frantic Romantic'' -

Jermaine Stewart William Jermaine Stewart (September 7, 1957 – March 17, 1997) was an American R&B singer, best known for his 1986 hit single "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off", which peaked at number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also peaked wi ...

- percussion, electronic drum fills *1986 - ''While the City Sleeps'' -

- synthesizer, drums, cymbals, percussion, drum fills *1985 - ''Hero'' -

& the Red Bank Rockers - percussion *1985 - ''Who's Zoomin' Who?'' - Aretha Franklin - percussion *1980 - ''Aretha 1980'' - Aretha Franklin - percussion *1980 - ''Life Is Good'' - Jimmy Mac - drums

References

External links

* https://www.allmusic.com/artist/greg-gigi-gonaway-mn0001710849/credits {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonaway, Gigi American drummers American male drummers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)