Gerald Michael Edmonton (born Gerald McCrohan, October 24, 1946 – November 28, 1993) was a Canadian-American musician who was the

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

, and secondary lead vocalist for the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

Steppenwolf.

Early life and career

Edmonton was born in

Oshawa Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the G ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. Both his brother Dennis, also known as

Mars Bonfire Dennis Edmonton (born Dennis Eugene McCrohan; 21 April 1943), also known by the stage name Mars Bonfire, is a Canadian rock musician and songwriter, best known for writing the hit song "Born to Be Wild" for Steppenwolf. Career Born Dennis Euge ...

, and he changed their surnames to Edmonton during the 1960s, when they performed in a group called The Sparrows. John Kay and

Goldy McJohn John Raymond Goadsby (May 2, 1945 – August 1, 2017), known as Goldy McJohn, was a Canadian keyboard player best known as the original keyboardist for rock group Steppenwolf. Originally a classically trained pianist, he was a pioneer in the ...

joined this group in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

in 1965 and, after some more changes in personnel and relocating to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, the group was renamed Steppenwolf. When Steppenwolf temporarily broke up on February 14, 1972, Edmonton and Steppenwolf

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

Goldy McJohn formed the band Seven with singer Lance Gullickson and guitarist Robin Huff. After Seven, Edmonton, and McJohn formed Manbeast with Rod Prince and Roy Cox of

Bubble Puppy Bubble Puppy is an American psychedelic rock band originally active from 1967 to 1972. They are best remembered for their Top 20 hit, "Hot Smoke & Sasafrass". History Origins Bubble Puppy was formed in 1966 in San Antonio, Texas, by Rod Prince ...

before Steppenwolf reconvened in 1974 for three albums before breaking up again in 1976.

Personal life

Edmonton married former Steppenwolf bandmate

Andy Chapin Andrew Chapin (February 7, 1952 – December 31, 1985) was an American keyboardist best known for his short stint with the Ricky Nelson Band, which ended in 1985 when Nelson and his bandmates died after Nelson's personal DC-3 aircraft crashed ...

's widow in the 1980s. Edmonton died in a car accident, crashing into a tree after failing to manoeuvre a turn, in

Santa Ynez Santa Ynez (; Spanish for "St. Agnes") is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County, California. The town of Santa Ynez is one of the communities of the Santa Ynez Valley. It features the Santa Ynez Airport ...

, California, on November 28, 1993.

Discography

Singles

References

External Links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edmonton, Jerry 1946 births 1993 deaths Musicians from Oshawa Canadian rock drummers Canadian male drummers Road incident deaths in California Steppenwolf (band) members 20th-century Canadian drummers 20th-century Canadian male musicians