10 Drummers Drumming Trivia Quiz

Answer: Paul McCartney

The son of two musicians (father a jazz bass player and mother a classically trained singer), Abe started playing drums at age four. His formal training includes the Dick Grove School of Music and the Berklee College of Music as well as mentoring by well-known percussionists.

He has recorded and toured with many musicians including B.B. King, Eric Clapton, k.d. lang and Lady Gaga. Abe toured with McCartney in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, twice in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013. I have been privileged to see concerts at three of those tours and have tremendous respect for Abe as a drummer and a back-up singer.

McCartney is a former, founding member of the Beatles and Wings.

Answer: Deep Purple

Ian started playing drums when he was 15, securing his first gig playing drums for his father's dance band during the late '50s. In 1966, while playing in a band first called The MI5 and then The Maze, he met Rod Evans with whom he co-founded the band Deep Purple in 1968.

Deep Purple started out as a progressive rock band but quickly switched to hard rock and heavy metal, being given the dubious honor of being cited in "The Guinness Book of Records" (1975) as "the globe's loudest band". They were also inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.

The band has had many changes in band members over the years and has included Ritchie Blackmore, Art Wood (brother to Ron Wood from The Rolling Stones), Roger Moore and Ian Gillan (who sang the lead role in the rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar". Arguably their biggest hit was "Smoke on the Water" (released 1973) with Gillan singing lead.

Answer: The Beatles

Most people associate drummer Ringo Starr with the Beatles. He was indeed the drummer who was with them the longest, as they achieved fame and success. However back in their early days, before releasing their first single, The Beatles' drummer was Pete Best (born Randolph Peter Scanland).

His mother owned The Casbah Coffee House in Liverpool where the Beatles, then known as The Quarrymen, first played. Best was invited to join the Beatles just before the first time they went to Hamburg, and he played with then from 1960-1962.

There are a number of stories about why Best was asked to leave but asked to leave he was. George Martin, who offered them their first recording contract was unwilling to record with Best and arranged for a studio drummer.

This presented a problem as they had already replaced Best with Starr who showed up and wasn't initially allowed to play.

Answer: The Bangles

In 1980 sisters Debbi and Vicki Peterson and Susana Hoffs formed a group they called The Bangs with Debbi playing drums. The name was changed in 1982 due to legal issues.

Having Leonard Nimoy appear in one of their earlier videos and securing the opening spot for a Cyndi Lauper tour brought them to the attention of Prince, who offered them "Manic Monday", which turned out to be their first big hit. "Walk Like an Egyptian", written by Liam Sternberg, became a number one hit worldwide for the band in 1986.

The band broke up in 1989 but reformed in 1998 to record a song for the movie "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me".

Answer: The Band

Levon (nee Mark Lavon) Helm (1940-2012) grew up in a place called Turkey Scratch, in Helena, Arkansas. He decided to become a musician at age 6 and began playing instruments at age eight. He was invited to join Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks while he was still in high school but his mother insisted he complete school before touring.

In '58 he joined the Hawks full time and moved to Canada. The Band, as it eventually came to be known, underwent a few changes, including a time spent playing back-up for Bob Dylan.

Helm left for a while but returned to be their lead singer and drummer. By this point The Band was Canadian with Helm as the token American. The Band produced ten albums between 1968 and 1974 when they went out in a large concert, with many big-named musical guests, called "The Last Waltz", which was filmed by Scorsese. The Band has reformed, with various changes in musicians.

Helm's diagnosis of throat cancer in 1998 put his singing career on hold, but he did regain use of his voice.

He succumbed to the cancer in 2012.

Answer: The White Stripes

Meg White and Jack Gillis met in Detroit while he was in his last year of high school and she worked in a restaurant. When they got married, in 1996, he took her surname.

Unlike many other drummers in this quiz she did not begin drumming at an early age and had no formal training. She just started playing her husband's drums and they formed the group The White Stripes, claiming to be siblings. They divorced in 2000, before the band became really big but continued to play together until 2011 when she suffered severe anxiety on tour.

The White Stripes received four Grammys in 2004, for "Elephant", in 2006 for "Get Behind Me Satan" and two in 2008 for "Icky Thump" (Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Alternative Music Album).

Answer: The Rolling Stones

Born in London, England in 1941, Watts trained as a graphic artist. He began playing drums in rhythm and blues clubs where he met Jagger, Richards and Jones, whose group, The Rolling Stones, he joined in 1963. His training in graphic design came in useful in the design of some of their stage sets and at least one album cover.

While continuing to be a member of The Rolling Stones, Watt got involved in other projects, with other bands and has even published a book. In 2016 he was ranked 12th by "Rolling Stone" magazine on their list of the 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time. In 2006, he made "Vanity Fair's" International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame.

Watts had a reputation for being a gentleman and not taking advantage of the groupies who make themselves available to the band, remaining faithful to the wife he married in 1964.

Answer: Prince

While Sheila E. has worked with musicians like of Lionel Ritchie, Gloria Estefan, Beyoncé and Ringo Starr (in his All Starr Band), to name a few, she started her career playing with her father. In 1978 Prince saw her perform and promised that she would one day be part of his band.

She worked closely with Prince through the development and recording of his "Purple Rain" album, drumming and singing back-up but not appearing in the movie.
Prince continued to take an interest in her career and wrote her biggest hit "The Glamorous Life", which earned her MTV and Grammy nominations.

Answer: Cream

Ranked 3rd on "Rolling Stone's" 100 Greatest Drummers of All Times (2016), Ginger Baker founded the band Cream in 1966. Cream is viewed by many to be a power house band or 'super group' as it also consisted of Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton. Cream was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

The band broke up in 1968 although their final album was released in 1969. After Cream, Baker joined Blind Faith, another super group that Clapton was also a part of, as well as Rick Grech and Stevie Winwood.

They only released one album. Baker then toured with Ginger Baker's Airforce.

Answer: Def Leppard

No quiz on drummers would be complete without the inclusion of English drummer Rick Allen, because of his remarkable story. He started drumming when he was 9 years old. On his 15th birthday, in 1978, he joined the rock band Def Leppard, after his mother replied, on his behalf, to an ad from the band who was looking for a new drummer.

In 1984 Rick was in a car accident that resulted in his left arm being severed and his right shoulder being broken. (He is indeed a cautionary tale for the proper use of seat belts.) The arm was reattached but later had to be amputated because of infection. Allen received much encouragement from the band and other drummers, with special drum kits being built to accommodate his needs, allowing him to continue drumming for Def Leppard. Allen and his wife, Lauren Monroe, have been very active in working with veterans and 'people in crisis'. Def Leppard, part of the British Heavy Metal scene, formed in 1977. They had their biggest success in from the early '80s to the early '90s and their video "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" was one of the first shown on MTV in 1982.