Kerry Samuel Jacobson (born 19 April 1954) is a New Zealand musician, educator, ARIA hall of fame inductee and former drummer of rock band

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

. Jacobson was a member from 1976 to 1983, played at their 30-year reunion and at the 2008

ARIA Hall of Fame In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

in Melbourne, Australia. He continues to write and play with

Ian Moss Ian Richard Moss (born 20 March 1955) is an Australian rock musician from Alice Springs. He is the founding mainstay guitarist and occasional singer of Cold Chisel. In that group's initial eleven year phase from 1973 to 1984, Moss was recorde ...

and is the drummer for

Mondo Rock Mondo Rock are an Australian rock band, formed in November 1976 in Melbourne, Victoria. Singer-songwriter Ross Wilson founded the band, following the split of his previous band Daddy Cool. Guitarist Eric McCusker, who joined in 1980, wrote man ...

and his own ban
The Filthy Animals

Career

Dragon

Kerry Jacobson had been a member of various New Zealand groups including Mammal, Tapestry and Ebony before moving to Australia in 1976 where he joined rock music group,

, on drums. He replaced Neil Storey who had died from an accidental drug overdose. He went on to play with the band until their official break-up in 1979. In 1982 Dragon reformed with its original and most notable line-up, including Jacobson, as they needed to pay off some outstanding debts which had accumulated after their breakup in 1979. After the debt was paid off, the band continued to perform as they enjoyed the limelight again. Feeling exhausted, Jacobson left the band in 1983, after recording the single

Rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

, to become a session musician. He was then replaced by

Terry Chambers Terry Peter Chambers (born 18 July 1955) is an English drummer who was a member of the band XTC from 1972 to 1982 and the popular Australian-New Zealand group Dragon between 1983-5. He appears on all of XTC's albums between ''White Music'' (197 ...

from UK band XTC and later

Doane Perry Doane Ethredge Perry (born June 16, 1954) is an American musician, composer and author. From 1984 to 2011 he was drummer and percussionist with the band Jethro Tull and has also appeared on hundreds of recordings spanning multiple genres on re ...

from Jethro Tull.

Session Career

After leaving Dragon in 1983, Jacobson recorded several albums including "Dark Spaces" by Richard Clapton, "Big City Talk" by

Marc Hunter Marc Alexander Hunter (7 September 195317 July 1998) was a New Zealand rock and pop singer, songwriter and record producer. He was the lead vocalist of Dragon (1973–11/1979, 8/1982–1989, 1995–11/1997), a band formed by his older brother, ...

and "Shy Boys Shy Girls" by the Kevin Borich Express. He also recorded several tracks on Ian Moss' 2018 album, self-titled

, and co-wrote the track "If Another Day (Love Rewards Its Own)".

Education

In 1990 Jacobson moved to Brisbane where he studied Jazz Drums and Piano at the Conservatorium of Music, earning him a diploma in music.

Mondo Rock

Jacobson joined

for a brief period of time before leaving the band in 1981. He later rejoined in 2003 to perform in the Hear and Now Tour which toured Australia nationally. He also performed with Mondo Rock at the 2006 Countdown Spectacular and still performs with the band at various outdoor festivals around Australia.

Ian Moss

Since the 1990s, Jacobson has toured with many different acts, including a European tour with

Cold Chisel Cold Chisel are an Australian pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums and Don Walker on piano and keyboards. They were soon joined by Jimmy Barnes (at the ...

guitarist

. He continues to write and perform with Ian Moss to this day.

Other Acts Performed With

National Acts

* Renee Geyer (2006-2010) *

The Black Sorrows The Black Sorrows are an Australian blues rock band formed in 1983 by mainstay vocalist Joe Camilleri (ex-Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons), who also plays saxophone and guitar. Camilleri has used various line-ups to record 17 albums, with five reaching ...

(2016)

International Acts

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful ...

(USA) *

Canned Heat Canned Heat is an American band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. The group is noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists and rock music. It was founded by two blues enthusiasts Alan Wilson and Bob ...

(USA) * Eugene "Hideaway" Bridges (USA) * Shirley Myers (Canada) *

Leo Sayer Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter whose singing career has spanned five decades. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom ...

(UK)

Present Day

Jacobson is endorsed by Dixon drums, Bosphorus cymbals, Promark drumsticks and Evans drum heads (D'Addario). Jacobson currently teaches percussion at a private school in Brisbane, Australia. He still performs live with

and many others. He also performs with his own band The Filthy Animals, a classic rock cover band formed during the 2021

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

lockdown. The band usually plays

cover songs In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or Sound recording and reproduction, recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referr ...

at corporate gigs; the band often features, among many others, Kerry Jacobson (

), Brett Williams ( The Choirboys), and Glen Muirhead (

Eurogliders Eurogliders are a band formed in 1980 in Perth, Western Australia, which included Grace Knight on vocals, Bernie Lynch on guitar and vocals, and Amanda Vincent on keyboards. * First edition (online copy): * Second edition: In 1984, Eurogli ...

James Reyne James Michael Nugent Reyne OAM (born 19 May 1957) is an Australian rock musician and singer-songwriter both in solo work and, until 1986, with the band Australian Crawl. Biography Early years Reyne was born in Lagos, Nigeria. His father, Ro ...

Band).

Discography (With Dragon)

Albums

Singles

Awards

ARIA Awards

Kerry Jacobson was inducted into the

in 2008 for his work with

. , - , 2008 , Dragon ,

New Zealand Music Awards