John Tumminello (December 8, 1957), better known as Johnny Rod, is an American musician, best known as a former bassist of the heavy metal band W.A.S.P.

Biography

Tumminello grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. According to his own statements, he started performing at the age of 11. One of the bands he played with was

King Kobra King Kobra is an American heavy metal band founded by drummer Carmine Appice after his tenure with Ozzy Osbourne from 1983 to 1984. History For their first two albums, the band consisted of four relatively unknown musicians: vocalist Marcie ...

from 1983 to 1986. In 1986, Rod received an offer to join W.A.S.P. His main bass at that time was a yellow B.C. Rich Ironbird. He played on the albums ''

Inside the Electric Circus ''Inside the Electric Circus'' is the third studio album by heavy metal band W.A.S.P., released in October 1986 through Capitol Records; a remastered edition featuring two bonus tracks was reissued in 1997 through Snapper Music.

'' (1986), '' Live... in the Raw'' (1987) and '' The Headless Children'' (1989) and accompanied the band on their 1992 farewell tour. Later attempts for a reunion of the classic lineup failed, mainly due to singer

Blackie Lawless Steven Edward Duren (born September 4, 1956), better known by his stage name Blackie Lawless, is an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist (formerly bassist) for heavy metal band W.A.S.P.B ...

, according to Rod, as well as the rest of the members of W.A.S.P. during that era. In 2010, Rod reunited with King Kobra. The band went on hiatus after two album releases in 2013, and reunited again in 2016 for several live performances. In 2017, Rod collaborated with

Carmine Appice Carmine Appice ( , born December 15, 1946) is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his associations with Vanilla Fudge; Cactus; the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice; Rod Stewart; King Kobra; and Blue Murder. He is also Vinny Appice's ...

on "Monsters and Heroes", a tribute cover song to Ronnie James Dio. Rod has used both Fender and

B.C. Rich B.C. Rich is an American brand of acoustic and electric guitars and bass guitars founded by Bernardo Chavez Rico in 1969. History The company started making electric guitars in the 1970s. In the following decade B.C. Rich gained a broad expo ...

basses during his career. He lists the

Fender Precision The Fender Precision Bass (often shortened to "P-Bass") is a model of bass guitar, electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stri ...

bass is his all-time favorite guitar.

References

American heavy metal bass guitarists King Kobra members W.A.S.P. members Living people 1957 births 20th-century American bass guitarists {{US-bass-guitarist-stub