Jimmy DeGrasso (born March 16, 1963) is an American heavy metal drummer. DeGrasso played with Mama's Boys and

Lita Ford Lita Rossana Ford (born 19 September 1958) is an English-born American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s, before embarking on a successful glam metal solo ...

before eventually working with Y&T and

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wi ...

and as a session or touring musician for

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 ...

(1986),

White Lion The white lion is a rare color mutation of the lion, specifically the Southern African lion. White lions in the area of Timbavati are thought to have been indigenous to the Timbavati region of South Africa for centuries, although the earliest r ...

(1991), Fiona (1992),

Suicidal Tendencies Suicidal Tendencies is an American crossover thrash band formed in 1980 in Venice, Los Angeles, Venice in Los Angeles, California by vocalist Mike Muir. Muir is the only remaining original member of the band. Along with Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, ...

(1992–1995),

MD.45 MD.45 was an American heavy metal/ punk rock band formed as a side project by Megadeth guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine and Fear vocalist Lee Ving. Bassist Kelly LeMieux (of Fear) and drummer Jimmy DeGrasso (of Y&T and on a break from Ali ...

(1996), and

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guilloti ...

(1995–1997). After his dismissal from Megadeth around 2002, DeGrasso worked with Dave Ellefson's F5 (2007–2010) and toured with The David Lee Roth Band (2006), Ministry (2008),

(2008),

Hail Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fal ...

(2009),

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 (Dokken song), Alone Again", " ...

(2012), and

Ratt Ratt is an American glam metal band formed in San Diego, California, in the 1970s, that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum, and multi-platinum by the RIAA. The group is bes ...

(2014). He also was the drummer of Black Star Riders from December 2012 until March 2017.

Early life and education

DeGrasso was born March 16, 1963 in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19,3 ...

in the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the n ...

region of eastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

. He graduated from Liberty High School in Bethlehem in 1981, where he was a member of Liberty High School's Grenadier Band.

Career

1986 to 1995: Ozzy Osbourne, Y&T, White Lion, and MD.45

DeGrasso originally auditioned for

and played on the demos of '' The Ultimate Sin'' before Ozzy and Bob Daisley had a fallout and Ozzy chose to replace the entire band except for Jake E. Lee. DeGrasso then joined the veteran metal band Y&T in 1986, replacing their original drummer Leonard Haze. He remained with the group into the 1990s. In 1991, he briefly filled in as

's touring drummer when Greg D'Angelo left the band. He went on to play on

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth, as well as their sole consistent member. Mustaine has releas ...

's side project band,

, in 1995.

1998 to 2002: Megadeth

In 1998, Mustaine asked him to join Megadeth as drummer and continue the band's '' Cryptic Writings'' tour. He was asked to play with Megadeth five days before the next show. He walked around with a walkman all day to memorize the songs. DeGrasso recorded and toured behind Megadeth's ''

Risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environme ...

'' album in 1999–2000, ''

The World Needs a Hero ''The World Needs a Hero'' is the ninth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on May 15, 2001 by Sanctuary Records. After the critical and commercial failure of the previous album ''Risk'' (1999), ''The World Needs a Hero ...

'' in 2000–2001, and was featured on Megadeth's first ever live CD and DVD release, ''

Rude Awakening Rudeness (also called effrontery) is a display of actual or perceived disrespect by not complying with the Norm (social), social norms or etiquette of a group or culture. These norms have been established as the essential personal boundaries, b ...

'', which was released in 2002.

2002 to 2008: Stone Sour, Ronnie Montrose, David Lee Roth Band, and Ministry

DeGrasso has performed at the Modern Drummer Festival in 2002, Ultimate Drummers Weekend in Australia, Drummer Live in the United Kingdom, and toured with

Stone Sour Stone Sour is an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Ra ...

( Slipknot vocalist

Corey Taylor Corey Todd Taylor (born December 8, 1973) is an American musician, songwriter and actor. He is the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #8, as well as the lead vocalist and guitarist for the rock band Stone ...

's side project), and with guitar legend

Ronnie Montrose Ronald Douglas Montrose (November 29, 1947 – March 3, 2012) was an American guitarist who founded and led the rock bands Montrose and Gamma. He also performed and did session work with a variety of musicians, including Van Morrison, Herbie H ...

. DeGrasso played with The David Lee Roth Band in 2006 and joined Ministry on their 2008 tour.

2008 to 2012: Alice Cooper Band, F5, and Dokken

In late 2008, DeGrasso came back to

's band to fill in for

Eric Singer Eric Singer (born Eric Doyle Mensinger; May 12, 1958) is an American drummer. Associated with the hard rock band Kiss since 1991, he has also performed with artists such as Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Lita Ford, Badlands, Brian May and Gar ...

while Singer played a few

KISS A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

shows in the U.S. DeGrasso has also been the full-time drummer for heavy metal band F5 and

(along with ex-Megadeth bassist

David Ellefson David Warren Ellefson (born November 12, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist for thrash metal band Megadeth. Ellefson initially became an accomplished bassist and honed his songwriting skills while leadin ...

). In summer 2012, DeGrasso toured with

, filling in for Mick Brown, who left Dokken to tour with

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American rock musician and activist. He initially gained fame as the lead guitarist and occasional lead vocalist of The Amboy Dukes, a band formed in 1963 that played psychedelic rock a ...

2012 to 2017: Black Star Riders

In December 2012, DeGrasso joined

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or s ...

's spin-off band, Black Star Riders, and appeared on Black Star Riders' first album '' All Hell Breaks Loose'', which was released in May 2013.

2014 to 2017: Ratt

In early 2014, DeGrasso filled in for Bobby Blotzer in

and played with them on the

Monsters of Rock Monsters of Rock was an annual hard rock and heavy metal music festival held in Castle Donington, England, from 1980 to 1996, taking place every year except 1989 and 1993. It later branched into other locations such as the Netherlands, Poland ...

cruise. DeGrasso is the first drummer to have filled in for Blotzer, since he joined the band in 1982. He filled in for Blotzer again on the Monsters of Rock Cruise in October 2016 before becoming the band's official touring drummer in 2017. He left Ratt in June 2017

Personal life

DeGrasso currently resides in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, where he used to own and manage his own drum shop, San Jose Pro Drum, which has now closed.

Bands as drummer

* Mama's Boys (1985–1986) * Y&T (1987–1991, 1995–1997) *

(1991) * Fiona (1992) *

(1992–1995) *

(1994–1998, 2008–2010) *

(1998–2002) * O'2L (2006) * David Lee Roth (2006) * Ministry (2008) *

(2012–2013) *

(2014, 2016–2018) * Black Star Riders (2012–2017)

Discography

*1987 Y&T – '' Contagious'' *1990 Y&T – ''

Ten Ten, TEN or 10 may refer to: * 10, an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11 * one of the years 10 BC, AD 10, 1910 and 2010 * October, the tenth month of the year Places * Mount Ten, in Vietnam * Tongren Fenghuang Airport (IATA code ...

'' *1991 Y&T – '' Yesterday & Today Live'' *1992 Fiona – '' Squeeze'' *1994

– ''

Suicidal for Life ''Suicidal for Life'' is the eighth studio album by American crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies, which was released in 1994. It is their sixth full-length album with original material, and their last album to feature lead guitarist Rocky Ge ...

'' *1995 Y&T – ''

Musically Incorrect ''Musically Incorrect'' is the tenth studio album by the American hard rock/ heavy metal band Y&T. It was released in 1995 through the Music for Nations label. It was the first Y&T release since reuniting in 1995, and contains the same line-up a ...

'' *1996

– '' The Craving'' *1997 Alice Cooper Band – '' A Fistful of Alice'' *1997 Y&T – '' Endangered Species'' *1998 Dave Meniketti – ''

On The Blue Side ''On the Blue Side'' is an album by saxophonist Hank Crawford and organist Jimmy McGriff recorded in 1989 and released on the Milestone label the following year.

'' *1998 A.N.I.M.A.L. – ''Poder Latino'' (session drummer) *1999

– ''

'' *2000 Megadeth – '' Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years'' *2001 Megadeth – ''

'' *2002 Megadeth – ''

'' *2002 Megadeth – '' Still, Alive... and Well?'' *2006 Megadeth – '' Arsenal of Megadeth'' *2006 Sex Machineguns – ''Made In USA'' (session drummer) *2007 Megadeth – '' Warchest'' *2008 F5 – ''The Reckoning'' *2008 Megadeth – '' Anthology: Set the World Afire'' *2010 Alice Cooper – ''Theatre of Death, Live at Hammersmith 2009'' *2011 The Worshyp – ''Evil Abounds'' (session drummer) *2011 Alice Cooper – '' Welcome 2 My Nightmare'' *2012 Dokken – '' Broken Bones'' *2013 Black Star Riders – '' All Hell Breaks Loose'' *2015 Black Star Riders – '' The Killer Instinct'' *2017 Black Star Riders – ''

Heavy Fire ''Heavy Fire'' is a series of on-rails arcade shooter video games developed by Polish video game developer Teyon between 2010 and 2013 and ''Anshar'' from 2018 to present. The series includes five games: ''Heavy Fire: Special Operations'' (2010), ...

References

External links

Jimmy DeGrasso
at '' Drummerworld''
Jimmy DeGrasso interview
at Backstage Pass {{DEFAULTSORT:Degrasso, Jimmy 1963 births Living people 20th-century American drummers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American drummers 21st-century American male musicians Alice Cooper (band) members American heavy metal drummers American people of Italian descent Black Star Riders members Liberty High School (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) alumni MD.45 members Megadeth members Ministry (band) members Musicians from Pennsylvania People from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Suicidal Tendencies members White Lion members