John Panozzo
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John Anthony Panozzo (September 20, 1948 – July 16, 1996) was an American
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 ...
best known for his work with rock band Styx.


Early life and career

Panozzo grew up in the Roseland neighborhood, the south side of
Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, with his
fraternal twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...
brother,
Chuck Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * C ...
(born 90 minutes apart). At age 7, the twins took musical lessons from their uncle in which John took an interest in drums and percussion. They attended Catholic school and eventually they were part of a three-piece band in which John played drums and Chuck played guitar. They would play weddings at age 12 and were paid $15 apiece. Then, in 1961, John, Chuck, and their neighbor,
Dennis DeYoung Dennis DeYoung (born February 18, 1947) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a founding member of the rock band Styx, and served as its primary lead vocalist and keyboardist from 1972 until 1999. DeYoung was th ...
, formed a band called The Tradewinds in which John played drums, Chuck played guitar, and Dennis played the
accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
and sang. They played local gigs at bars and began gaining popularity as a garage band on the city's South Side. In 1968, Chuck switched to bass and they added guitarists/vocalists James "J.Y." Young and
John Curulewski John Curulewski (October 3, 1950 – February 13, 1988) was an American musician who was one of the original members of Styx. Career In 1969 Curulewski joined the Chicago-based band TW4, featuring college friends Dennis DeYoung, Chuck Panozz ...
, changing their name to TW4. The band signed to
Wooden Nickel Records Wooden Nickel Records was an American independent record label started in 1971 by Bill Traut, Jim Golden and Jerry Weintraub as a successor to Dunwich Records. Most of Wooden Nickel's releases were by acts based in the Chicago area, including th ...
and changed their name to Styx. Panozzo was active in Styx from 1972 - 1984, when the band went on hiatus. In 1993, Panozzo played drums on two tracks for guitarist/vocalist James Young's solo album ''Out on a Day Pass''.


Illness and death

Years of
excessive drinking Alcohol abuse encompasses a spectrum of unhealthy alcohol drinking behaviors, ranging from binge drinking to alcohol dependence, in extreme cases resulting in health problems for individuals and large scale social problems such as alcohol-r ...
began to take a toll on his
liver The liver is a major Organ (anatomy), organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for ...
. In 1996, as Styx was about to embark on its first tour with the classic line-up since 1983, John fell seriously ill and began battling
cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repai ...
of the liver, eventually dying of
gastrointestinal The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and ...
hemorrhaging and cirrhosis in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
on July 16, 1996; he was 47 years old.


Tribute

The band dedicated their 1996 ''Return to Paradise'' tour to him.
Tommy Shaw Tommy Roland Shaw (born September 11, 1953) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known for his tenure in the rock band Styx (band), Styx as co-lead vocalist. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with other groups includi ...
, who had earlier replaced Curulewski, wrote the song "Dear John" as the band's final tribute to Panozzo.


Gear

Panozzo used
Premier drums Premier Music International Limited is an English musical instruments manufacturing company based in Kibworth. The company, founded in 1922, currently produces drum kits, sticks and accessories. History Premier was established in 1922 when ...
during the band's early years then switched to
Tama drums Tama Drums, (from Japanese: (Kanji), (Kana), read as ) is a brand of drum kits and hardware manufactured and marketed by the Japanese musical instrument company, Hoshino Gakki. Tama's research and development of products, along with producti ...
by late 1978. He also played
Zildjian cymbals :''Zildjian leads here. For people with the surname, see Zildjian (disambiguation)'' The Avedis Zildjian Company, simply known as Zildjian (), is a musical instrument manufacturer specializing in cymbals and other percussion instruments. Founde ...
.


Discography


Studio albums

* 1972 '' Styx'' * 1973 '' Styx II'' * 1973 ''
The Serpent Is Rising ''The Serpent Is Rising'' is the third album by American band Styx, released in October 1973, a mere three months after their previous album '' Styx II'' in July 1973. The album was reissued in 1980 with new artwork and a new title, ''Serpent'' ...
'' * 1974 ''
Man of Miracles ''Man of Miracles'' is the fourth album by Styx, released on November 8, 1974. This would be the band's last original album on the independent Chicago-based label Wooden Nickel Records before moving to the major label A&M. Background The ...
'' * 1975 ''
Equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...
'' * 1976 ''
Crystal Ball A crystal ball, also known as an orbuculum or crystal sphere, is a crystal or glass ball and common fortune-telling object. It is generally associated with the performance of clairvoyance and scrying in particular. In more recent times, the cry ...
'' * 1977 ''
The Grand Illusion ''The Grand Illusion'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band Styx. Recorded at Paragon Recording Studios in Chicago, the album was released on July 7, 1977, by A&M Records. (Intentionally choosing the combination 7th on 7-7-77 f ...
'' * 1978 ''
Pieces of Eight The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight ( es, Real de a ocho, , , or ), is a silver coin of approximately diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content ...
'' * 1979 ''
Cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...
'' * 1981 '' Paradise Theater'' * 1983 '' Kilroy Was Here'' * 1990 ''
Edge of the Century ''Edge of the Century'' is the twelfth studio album by Styx, released in 1990. It was the first Styx album featuring A&M solo artist Glen Burtnik, the only album to feature the Dennis DeYoung/James Young/Glen Burtnik/Chuck Panozzo/John Panozzo li ...
'' * 1993 ''Out on a Day Pass'' ( James Young solo album)


Compilations

* 1995 '' Styx Greatest Hits'' * 1996 '' Styx Greatest Hits Part 2'' * 2002 ''20th Century Masters'' * 2004 '' Come Sail Away - The Styx Anthology'' * 2005 ''
The Complete Wooden Nickel Recordings The Complete Wooden Nickel Recordings is a 2-Disc set released by Styx (band), Styx in 2005. The compilation contains remastered versions of Styx's first four albums, ''Styx (album), Styx'', ''Styx II'', ''The Serpent Is Rising'', and ''Man of Mir ...
'' * 2006 ''Styx Gold'' (re-release of '' Come Sail Away - The Styx Anthology'')


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panozzo, John 1948 births 1996 deaths American rock drummers Musicians from Chicago Styx (band) members American twins American people of Italian descent Deaths from cirrhosis Deaths from gastrointestinal hemorrhage Alcohol-related deaths in Illinois American rock percussionists 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians