Tommy Aldridge (born August 15, 1950) is an American heavy metal and

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

drummer. He is noted for his work with numerous bands and artists since the 1970s, such as

Black Oak Arkansas Black Oak Arkansas is an American Southern rock band named after the band's hometown of Black Oak, Arkansas. The band reached the height of its fame in the 1970charting ten albums according to Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Their style is punctuated ...

Pat Travers Band Patrick Henry Travers (born April 12, 1954) is a Canadian rock guitarist, keyboardist and singer who began his recording career in the mid-1970s. Early life Travers was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. Soon after picking up the guitar at ag ...

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 ...

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and jazz ...

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own entit ...

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 an ...

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 some ...

Vinnie Moore Vincent Moore (born April 14, 1964) is an American guitarist and a member of the British hard rock band UFO. Biography Moore was born in New Castle, Delaware. He began his professional career at age 12 after receiving a guitar as a Chris ...

and

Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning ov ...

. Self-taught, Aldridge was initially inspired by the music of

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

and

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

. Drummers such as

Joe Morello Joseph Albert Morello (July 17, 1928 – March 12, 2011) was an American jazz drummer best known for serving as the drummer for pianist Dave Brubeck, as part of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, from 1957 to 1972, including during the quartet's "classic ...

Ginger Baker Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and Music of Africa, Africa ...

John Bonham John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Led Zeppelin. Esteemed for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove,J ...

and

Mitch Mitchell John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 194612 November 2008)In his book about the Experience, Mitchell states he celebrated his 21st birthday while on tour on 9 July 1967, which makes his birth year 1946.Mitchell's obituaries in ''Billboard' ''T ...

were particularly influential as Aldridge developed his drumming style. Aldridge himself has become very influential, and is regarded as a

double bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...

pioneer in rock music.

Career

Raised in Mississippi, Aldridge taught himself to play drums in the 1960s, building a kit piece by piece with money earned delivering newspapers and other odd jobs. He credits his unique style to learning without the benefit of a mentor or teacher. While his mother was supportive of his desire to play music, his father was an alcoholic who didn't view musicians favorably. As a result, while practicing in an outbuilding in his backyard Aldridge would often place towels over his drum heads to prevent his father from hearing. In the early 1970s, Aldridge began playing original music with Alley Keith in the

Florida Panhandle The Florida Panhandle (also West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida; it is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long and wide, lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia (U. ...

. Inspired by drummers such as

Louis Bellson Louie Bellson (born Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni, July 6, 1924 – February 14, 2009), often seen in sources as Louis Bellson, although he himself preferred the spelling Louie, was an American jazz drummer. He was a composer, ...

and

Sam Woodyard Sam Woodyard (January 7, 1925 – September 20, 1988) was an American jazz drummer. He was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States. Woodyard was largely an autodidact on drums and played locally in the Newark, New Jersey area in the 1940 ...

, he started using a double-bass drum setup and became an early pioneer of the hard rock double kick drum style of drumming. After playing for a short time with the

southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculat ...

band

David and the Giants David and the Giants began as a rock band in Laurel, Mississippi, with the Huff brothers David, Clayborn and Rayborn. Along with Jerry Parker on drums, they toured the Southeast during the 1960s. In 1977, they switched to a Christian rock form ...

in 1972, Aldridge auditioned for

and was surprised to get the job. He made his recording debut in 1972 with Black Oak Arkansas' ''

If an Angel Came to See You, Would You Make Her Feel at Home? ''If an Angel Came to See You, Would You Make Her Feel at Home?'' is the third studio album released by southern rock band Black Oak Arkansas in 1972. It is the recording debut of drummer Tommy Aldridge. Track listing All selections written by ...

'' album. He subsequently recorded several albums with the band between 1972 and 1976 and toured extensively. Aldridge has said that he wasn't particularly fond of Black Oak Arkansas' music and his intention when joining the band was to use the opportunity as a springboard to make a name for himself in the industry, something he says he's not particularly proud of in hindsight. Not happy with the band's heavy use of

hashish Hashish ( ar, حشيش, ()), also known as hash, "dry herb, hay" is a drug made by compressing and processing parts of the cannabis plant, typically focusing on flowering buds (female flowers) containing the most trichomes. European Monitorin ...

, Aldridge attempted to leave Black Oak Arkansas. As the band's management wasn't keen on giving him his contractual freedom, Aldridge was forced to sneak away in the middle of the night and subsequently "hide out in Chicago". During that period he played with a local band called "d'Thumbs". One and a half years of lawsuits ensued, after which he was contractually free to record again. Aldridge spent 1978 to 1981 with the

Pat Travers Patrick Henry Travers (born April 12, 1954) is a Canadian rock guitarist, keyboardist and singer who began his recording career in the mid-1970s. Early life Travers was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. Soon after picking up the guitar at ag ...

Band, recording five albums over that time. Upon parting ways with Travers in 1981, Aldridge moved to

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

and began working with

, recording the '' Dirty Fingers'' album. American guitarist

Randy Rhoads Randall William Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) was an American guitarist. He was the co-founder and original guitarist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, and the guitarist and co-songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo alb ...

, who had recently arrived in England to record with

, was a big fan of Moore's guitar playing, and one day he and

Bob Daisley Robert John Daisley (born 13 February 1950) is a retired Australian bass guitarist. He has collaborated on several occasions with Ozzy Osbourne, for whom he contributed bass, backing vocals, co-production and songwriting. He has also worked wi ...

arrived to watch Moore's band rehearse. Aldridge and Rhoads became friends immediately. Aldridge had known Osbourne for several years, as Black Oak Arkansas had toured with Osbourne's previous band

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

extensively in the 1970s, and Aldridge's new friendship with Rhoads would lead him to join Osbourne's band a few months later. Although Aldridge is credited in the liner notes and pictured on the inner sleeve of Osbourne's 1981 album '' Diary of a Madman'',

Lee Kerslake Lee Gary Kerslake (16 April 1947– 19 September 2020) was an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and backing vocalist for the rock band Uriah Heep and for his work with Ozzy Osbourne in the early 1980s. Biography Early life a ...

actually performed all the drum parts on the original release. Aldridge has stated that working with Rhoads in Osbourne's band was one of the "musical highlights" of his life. Rhoads stated of Aldridge in late 1981 that "he was always my favorite drummer", stating that he was "knocked out" by the drummer after seeing him perform with Black Oak Arkansas on television in the 1970s. Aldridge appeared on Osbourne's ''

Bark at the Moon ''Bark at the Moon'' is the third solo studio album by British heavy metal vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, originally released in December 1983. The album marks Ozzy's change to a synth infused pop-metal sound, with both its "sonic production, and in ...

'' album in 1983 as well as a pair of live albums (''

Speak of the Devil "Speak of the devil" is the short form of the English-language idiom "Speak of the devil and he doth appear" (or its alternative form "speak of the devil and he shall appear"). The form "talk of the devil" is also in use in England. It is used ...

'' and ''

Tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...

'') before leaving the band in 1984. Soon after, Aldridge, along with bassist and former Ozzy Osbourne-bandmate

Rudy Sarzo Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont (born November 18, 1950) is a Cuban American hard rock/ heavy metal bassist. He remains best known for his work with Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, and Whitesnake, and has also played ...

, joined forces with guitar/keyboard player

Tony MacAlpine Tony MacAlpine (born August 29, 1960) is an American musician and composer. In a career spanning four decades, he has released twelve studio albums. MacAlpine is best known as an instrumental rock and heavy metal solo guitarist, although he has ...

and vocalist

Rob Rock Robert Rock (born June 29, 1959) is an American heavy metal singer who is best known as the longtime frontman of Impellitteri, a position he has held from 1987 to 1988, 1992 to 2000, and now from 2008 to the present day. Rock has also released ...

to form a short-lived project called M.A.R.S. Close friends, Aldridge and Sarzo both joined

in 1987 as the band prepared to tour in support of its multi-platinum selling ''

'' album. Aldridge and Sarzo performed on the band's follow-up album, ''

Slip of the Tongue ''Slip of the Tongue'' is the eighth studio album by the British band Whitesnake, released in 1989. The album peaked at number 10 on both the UK Album Chart and US ''Billboard'' 200. Three singles were released from the album: " Fool for Your ...

'', released in 1989. Announcing he was going to take a break from the music industry, Whitesnake frontman

David Coverdale David Coverdale (born 22 September 1951) is an English singer who is best known as the lead vocalist of Whitesnake, a hard rock band he founded in 1978. Before Whitesnake, Coverdale was the lead singer of Deep Purple from 1973 to 1976, after wh ...

put the band on indefinite hiatus after the tour, and Aldridge moved on. Following his stint in Whitesnake, Aldridge played in the band Manic Eden, with his former Whitesnake bandmates

Adrian Vandenberg Adrian Vandenberg (born 31 January 1954 as Adriaan van den Berg) is a Dutch rock guitarist, best known for his tenure as one of the guitarists in Whitesnake during their successful late 1980s period and the band Vandenberg which he started in ...

and Sarzo. The line-up also included former Little Caesar vocalist Ron Young. During the 1990s Aldridge recorded and toured with various acts including

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

John Sykes John James Sykes (born 29 July 1959) is an English guitarist, best known as a member of Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy and Tygers of Pan Tang. He has also fronted the hard rock group Blue Murder and released several solo albums. Following a stint in ...

, and

. Aldridge has been an in-demand drum clinician since the early 1980s, and much of his work involves drum clinics and festivals each year. From 2002 Aldridge toured with

alongside

(vocals),

Doug Aldrich Doug Aldrich (born February 19, 1964) is an American hard rock guitarist. He founded the band Burning Rain with Keith St. John in 1998 and has played with Whitesnake, Dio, Lion, Hurricane, House of Lords, Bad Moon Rising and Revolution Saints. ...

(guitar),

Reb Beach Richard Earl "Reb" Beach Jr. (born August 31, 1963) is an American rock guitarist. He is a member of the bands Winger and Whitesnake. Career After graduating from Fox Chapel Area High School and attending Berklee College of Music in the ear ...

(guitar), Marco Mendoza/

Uriah Duffy Uriah Duffy (31 July 1975, Wakefield, Rhode Island, United States) is an American bassist. He is best known as the former bassist of Whitesnake. He is currently the bassist of the California-based progressive rock band Points North. An internation ...

(bass) and

Timothy Drury Timothy Drury (born July 5, 1961) is an American composer, keyboardist, guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and visual artist. His big breakthrough came in 1989 when Don Henley invited him to join The End of the Innocence tour as his pianist, keybo ...

(keyboards). Aldridge left Whitesnake in 2007 to pursue alternate musical endeavours. From 1997 to 2001 and again from 2007 to 2009, Aldridge was touring with the (former Whitesnake and

Tygers of Pan Tang Tygers of Pan Tang are an English heavy metal band who are part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. They formed in 1978 in Whitley Bay, England, and were active until 1987. The band reformed in 1999 and continue to record and perf ...

guitarist)

-fronted version of

alongside

Scott Gorham William Scott Gorham (born March 17, 1951) is an American guitarist and songwriter who is one of the "twin lead guitarists" for the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. Although not a founding member of Thin Lizzy, he served a continuous membership after ...

Darren Wharton Darren Leigh Wharton (born 25 December 1961) is a British keyboardist, singer and songwriter. He has fronted his own band, Dare, since 1985, but first came to attention as a member of Thin Lizzy. His son, Paris, is also a musician. Biography Wh ...

and Marco Mendoza. Thin Lizzy, along with The Answer, were scheduled to support

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

at stadium shows in England, Ireland and Scotland at the end of June 2009 but these appearances were canceled after Aldridge broke his collarbone in an accident. On June 30, it was announced that Sykes had left Thin Lizzy and all shows for the rest of 2009 were canceled or postponed. Gorham stated that he would announce the band's future plans shortly. In May 2010, Thin Lizzy did not include Aldridge in the new line-up due to him still recovering from his injury. Original Thin Lizzy drummer Brian Downey returned to the band. On January 25, 2013, it was announced that Aldridge had rejoined

for the third time for the band's upcoming "Year of the Snake" tour. He has since recorded the albums '' Flesh & Blood'' and '' The Purple Album'' with the group and remains their drummer as of January 2020.

Equipment

Aldridge plays

Yamaha drums Yamaha Drums is a subsidiary of the Yamaha Corporation founded in 1967. The company manufactures acoustic and electronic drum kits as well as percussion instruments, marching band equipment, and drum hardware. Production Most of Yamaha's drums a ...

, a company he has been with since 1982 and currently uses Absolute Maple Nouveau series drums from Yamaha. His kick drum pedals are fitted with Danmar 207A Tommy Aldridge pedal beaters. Aldridge has been a Paiste Artist since January 2003. He uses Remo drum heads and signature ProMark drum sticks. Yamaha has made Aldridge a custom "soon to be released" Signature Snare drum that is a 7x14 stainless steel model with die cast hoops and black chrome hardware. He also endorses

Paiste Paiste (English pronunciation: , ) is a Swiss musical instrument manufacturing company. It is the world's third largest manufacturer of cymbals, gongs, and metal percussion. is an Estonian word that means "shine". Apart from cymbals and gong ...

cymbals. His cymbal selection can vary, but he prefers their 2002, Signature and RUDE cymbals.Tommy's Weapons of Choice
Tommy's official website

Discography

Black Oak Arkansas

* ''If an Angel Came to See You...'' * ''Street Party'' * ''Ain't Life Grand'' * ''X-Rated'' * ''Balls of Fire'' * '' High on the Hog'' * ''King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Black Oak Arkansas'' * ''Raunch 'N' Roll Live'' * ''Live! Mutha'' * ''Ten Year Over Night Success''

Pat Travers Band

*''

Heat in the Street ''Heat in the Street'' is a rock album by the Pat Travers Band. It was released in 1978 on Polydor Records. It is the first with the most popular of Travers' band line-ups, Travers on guitar, Peter "Mars" Cowling on bass guitar, Pat Thrall also o ...

'' *''

Live! Go for What You Know ''Live! Go For What You Know'' is a live album by the Pat Travers Band, released in 1979 on Polydor Records. It reached platinum status in the US, and was re-released on CD in 1993. Background The album was recorded on tour in the US in early 19 ...

'' *'' Crash and Burn'' (1980) *''Live in Concert'' *'' Radio Active''

Gary Moore

*'' Dirty Fingers'' (1983) *'' Live at the Marquee'' (1983)

Ozzy Osbourne

*''

'' (1982) *''

'' (1983) *''

'' (1987 but recorded in 1981/1980) *'' Diary of a Madman 2011 'Legacy Edition' Disc 2'' (2011 but recorded live in 1981)

Macalpine, Aldridge, Rock, Sarzo (MARS)

*'' Project: Driver'' (1986)

Whitesnake

* ''

'' (1989) * '' Live... in the Shadow of the Blues'' (2006) * ''

Live at Donington 1990 ''Live at Donington 1990'' is a live album by English hard rock band Whitesnake. It was recorded at Castle Donington on 18 August 1990 during the Monsters of Rock festival, which the band headlined. It was released on 20 May 2011 in Japan, ...

'' (2011) * '' The Purple Album'' (2015) * ''The Purple Tour'' (2017) * '' Flesh & Blood'' (2019)

Manic Eden

* '' Manic Eden'' (1994)

Others

* Hear 'n Aid - ''"Stars"'' (backing vocals only) (1986) *

- ''Inspiration World Tour'' (1996) & '' Dragon Attack: A Tribute to Queen'' - Keep Yourself Alive *

Ruby Starr A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called s ...

– ''Scene Stealer'' *

– ''

Mind's Eye A mental image is an experience that, on most occasions, significantly resembles the experience of 'perceiving' some object, event, or scene, but occurs when the relevant object, event, or scene is not actually present to the senses. There are ...

'' *

– ''

March ör Die ''March ör Die'' is the tenth studio album by British rock band Motörhead, released in August 1992. It would be the band's second and final album with WTG Records. The album features guest appearances by Ozzy Osbourne, Guns N' Roses guitarist ...

'' (1992) - all tracks except "

Hellraiser ''Hellraiser'' is a 1987 British supernatural horror film written and directed by Clive Barker, and produced by Christopher Figg, based on Barker's 1986 novella ''The Hellbound Heart''. The film marked Barker's directorial debut. Its plot invol ...

" and "I Ain't No Nice Guy" * Steve Fister – ''Age of Great Dreams'' *

–

Demons Down ''Demons Down'' is the third studio album by House of Lords, released on April 7, 1992. It was recorded with founding members James Christian and Gregg Giuffria playing with a reformed band line-up, and was the last album before the band's brea ...

Pata Pata or PATA may refer to: Places * Pata, Sulu, a Philippine municipality * Pata, Galanta District, a village in Slovakia * Pata, Central African Republic, a village * Pata village (Samoa), a village in Samoa * Pontrilas Army Training Area, a ...

– ''Pata'' (1993) * '' Dragon Attack: A Tribute to Queen'' (1997) *

Patrick Rondat Patrick Rondat (born 12 October 1960) is a French guitarist. He plays instrumental heavy metal associated with diverse influences such as new-age music, progressive metal, classical music and jazz. He has collaborated on various projects with J ...

– ''

Amphibia Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbore ...

'' (1996) & ''On the Edge'' (1999) *

– '' One Night Only'' (2000) *

– '' Full Bluntal Nugity'' (2000) * Chris Catena – ''Freak Out!'' (2004) *

– ''20th Century'' (1997) *

- '' Bad Boy Live!'' (2004) * Iconic – ''Second Skin'' (2022)

References

External links

Tommy's Drummerworld page

Tommy Aldridge Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2008) {{DEFAULTSORT:Aldridge, Tommy 1950 births Living people American rock drummers American heavy metal drummers The Gary Moore Band members House of Lords (band) members The Ozzy Osbourne Band members People from Pearl, Mississippi Whitesnake members Thin Lizzy members 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 21st-century American drummers Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force members