Nick Mason

Mason has been the drummer on every Pink Floyd album (but not on every song; some session drummers have been used). He has also performed back up vocals and contributed song-writing duties on a variety of Pink Floyd songs.

Despite conflicts over ownership of the name ‘Pink Floyd’, Roger Waters and Nick Mason are now on good terms. Mason joined Waters on the last two nights of his 2002 world tour to play drums on the Pink Floyd song “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun”, and he also played drums on some concerts of Waters’ European tour in 2006, and during performances in Los Angeles and New York City in the United States. On 12 May 2007, Mason joined Waters again on stage at Earls Court to play The Dark Side of the Moon.

In July 2005, Mason, Gilmour, Wright, and Waters played together on stage for the first time in 24 years. A four song set was played at the Live 8 concert in London. Mason also joined David Gilmour and Richard Wright for the encore during Gilmour’s show at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 31 May 2006, reuniting the post-Waters Pink Floyd. Mason has also claimed to be the link between Gilmour and Waters, and believes the band will play live again. His answers have ranged from “playing again for a charitable cause” to “a tour” given in various interviews in the last few years. He also stated in 2006 that Pink Floyd have not officially disbanded yet. The only Pink Floyd songs that are solely credited to Mason are “The Grand Vizier’s Garden Party Parts 1-3″ (from Ummagumma) and “Speak to Me” (from The Dark Side of the Moon). The one-off song by the band entitled “Nick’s Boogie” was named after him.

The only times Mason’s voice has been included on Pink Floyd’s albums are “Corporal Clegg”, the single spoken line in “One of These Days” and spoken parts of “Signs of Life” and “Learning to Fly” (the latter taken from actual recording of Mason’s first solo flight) from A Momentary Lapse of Reason. He does, however, sing lead vocals on two unreleased but heavily bootlegged tracks, “Scream Thy Last Scream” (1967) and “The Merry Xmas Song” (1975-76). In live performances of the song “Sheep”, he did the spoken section.

Unlike the other members of Pink Floyd, Mason has rarely played an instrument other than his usual one (drums), although he has contributed sound effects to many Pink Floyd albums. He has only ever played non-percussive instruments on “The Grand Vizier’s Garden Party”, his personal composition from Ummagumma, where he provided some keyboard, guitar and bass noises, and on live versions of “Outside the Wall”, where he played acoustic guitar along with the rest of the band. He has claimed that he took some failed violin and piano lessons as a child. However, on the Profiles album Nick released with Rick Fenn in 1985, he is also credited with keyboards. He can be seen playing a synthesizer in the promo video for “Lie for a Lie”, but it is unknown if he is actually played on the recording.

Mason has done some work with other people, notably as a drummer and producer for Steve Hillage, Robert Wyatt, The Damned and Gong. He also drummed for Michael Mantler. Nick Mason used Premier drums in the 1960s and occasionally in the 1970s (mainly on recordings up to Wish You Were Here). After that, he used Ludwig drums from 1970 until 1992. He currently uses Drum Workshop (DW) drums, pedals and hardware. His kit is a DW double bass kit with the Dark Side of the Moon logo on the drums. He has also used Paiste cymbals during his entire career with Pink Floyd. He currently uses a mixture of Paiste Traditional, Signature and 2002 cymbals.

Tony Thompson

Thompson, whose mother was Trinidadian and father was Antiguan descent, first drummed for the 1970s group LaBelle, and then for a short while was a member, with Raymond Jones, of the soul/disco band Ecstasy Passion & Pain. This was followed by a long tenure with the legendary R&B/dance/disco band Chic, where he helped create hits such as “Dance Dance Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah),” “Le Freak,” and “Good Times”. He also performed with members of Chic on “We Are Family” and “He’s The Greatest Dancer” by Sister Sledge and “Upside Down” and “I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross.

Following the temporary disbanding of Chic in 1983, Chic’s former guitarist and bassist, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards became prolific producers, and Thompson’s drumming was much in demand among their clients. Thompson appeared with numerous artists such as Jody Watley, Madonna (on her 1984 album Like A Virgin), Rod Stewart, Robert Palmer, Mick Jagger, and David Bowie (on his 1983 Let’s Dance album and subsequent Serious Moonlight tour). Thompson was also a full-fledged member of the band Power Station along with Robert Palmer and John and Andy Taylor of Duran Duran. The enormous Live Aid charity benefit concert in 1985 saw Thompson playing with the Power Station as well as joining the remaining members of Led Zeppelin on stage (along with Phil Collins) at John F. Kennedy Stadium. During a reunion attempt in 1986, Led Zeppelin again asked Thompson to join them as a replacement for John Bonham; the reunion stalled in part because Thompson was in a serious car accident that year and was unable to continue participating.

Thompson would go on to join groups such as The Distance and Crown Of Thorns with Jean Beauvoir (playing on their first album Crown Of Thorns before leaving the band and subsequently replaced by Hawk Lopez). In the mid 1990s he rejoined Power Station for their 1996 reunion album Living In Fear and subsequent tour.

Thompson was also bass guitarist in New York City band That Hideous Strength before his death.

Hal Blaine

Hal Blaine may well be the most prolific drummer in rock and roll history. He’s certainly played on more hit records than any drummer in the rock era, including 40 #1 singles and 150 that made the Top Ten. Eight of the records he played on won Grammys for Record of the Year.

Blaine, who was born Harold Simon Belsky in 1929, became a professional drummer in 1948 and joined teen idol Tommy Sands’ band in the late Fifties. He was the most in-demand session drummer in Los Angeles during the Sixties and early Seventies, and a list of musicians he played with reads like a who’s who of popular music. In 1961, Blaine drummed on “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You,” one of Elvis Presley’s most memorable sides, and he would play on Presley’s film soundtracks throughout the Sixties. However, Blaine’s best-known affiliation is with producer Phil Spector, where he served as the percussive backbone of the “Wrecking Crew” - the nickname that younger studio hands on the L.A. scene bestowed on themselves after the rock-hating old-timers complained they were “wrecking the business.” He was a key component of Spector’s “Wall of Sound” production, which yielded such classic rock and roll hits as “Be My Baby,” by the Ronettes, and “Da Doo Ron Ron,” by the Crystals.

Blaine also established a fruitful relationship with Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson, for whom he served as the first-call session drummer. Blaine appeared on innumerable Beach Boys hits, ranging from “Surfer Girl” to “Good Vibrations.” He also drummed on countless recordings by the cream of West Coast pop musicians, including Jan and Dean, the Mamas and the Papas, the Byrds, Carpenters, Neil Diamond, Simon & Garfunkel, Dean Martin, the Association, Johnny Rivers, Sonny and Cher, the Grass Roots, and Gary Lewis and the Playboys.

On the more “adult” side of the pop ledger, Blaine played drums on recordings by Frank Sinatra and Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. By Blaine’s own estimate, he performed on 35,000 recorded tracks over in a quarter century’s worth of work. He published his memoirs, Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew, in 1990. He also recorded several solo albums, the most notable being 1967’s experimental “Psychedelic Percussion.”

Abe Cunningham

Abe Cunningham, born in Long Beach, California on July 27, 1973, is an American musician; he plays the drums in the world-famous Deftones and has also played drums for Phallucy.

He first started playing the drums for Phallucy as a teen in the early 90’s. During this time, he also drummed for the Deftones on the side, usually whenever the Deftones had a problem with a drummer who dropped out. Abe knows how to play both the guitar and the drums, but growing up with a step-father who played the drums, he took a deeper passion with the drums. His influences are the Police’s Stewart Copeland, Ginger Baker and Mitch Mitchell. Cunningham is known for his frantic, pounding rhythms on such songs as Knife Party and clever usage of tempo, while at the same time refusing to indulge in the double bass drum setup of many metal traditionalists. However, he does use a double bass pedal as part of his kit, as seen in a recent issue of Modern Drummer magazine.

Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson (born November 6, 1970 in Houston, Texas) is an American drummer who played in the band of Jeff Buckley, appearing and co-writing one song on his album Grace in 1994, as well as on subsequent live releases and EPs. Although he stopped playing with Buckley before recording began on what was to become the singer’s final original album (released after his death as Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk), Johnson shares writing credits for one of its tracks.

Matt Johnson has also performed and recorded with Duncan Sheik, Elysian Fields, Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Dean Wareham, Britta Phillips, David Poe, and Theo Eastwind. Johnson is currently collaborating with Sheik and fellow musician/songwriters David Poe, Morgan Taylor and Fil Krohnengold on an as-yet unnamed band project. Johnson is also expected to release some solo material.

Josh Klinghoffer

Josh Klinghoffer (born October 3, 1979) is an American musician, record producer and the current guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He has toured with, and played as a studio musician with, numerous artists, including The Bicycle Thief, Gnarls Barkley, Beck, the Butthole Surfers, John Frusciante, Golden Shoulders, Jon Brion, Neon Neon, PJ Harvey, Sparks, that dog., Thelonious Monster, The Insects, The Format, Vincent Gallo and Warpaint.

Klinghoffer has been involved in music from a very early age as a talented multi-instrumentalist, after having dropped out of formal education at age 15. Josh’s first recording experience came as the instrumentalist of the short lived band, The Bicycle Thief, who were fronted by singer Bob Forrest. In 2000, Klinghoffer and The Bicycle Thief were one of the opening acts on the Red Hot Chili Peppers Californication tour. Klinghoffer was also briefly a member of Forrest’s other group, Thelonious Monster, a band that at one point auditioned John Frusciante before he joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Klinghoffer is perhaps best known for his work with his friend John Frusciante and has regularly contributed to his solo albums including a joint album titled A Sphere In The Heart Of Silence. Klinghoffer and Frusciante have also collaborated with Joe Lally of Fugazi in 2004 under the name Ataxia. During this short period they played two live shows and released two albums, Automatic Writing and AW II. Despite being released several years apart, these albums were both recorded at the same time. In 2007, Klinghoffer joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers for the later part of the Stadium Arcadium tour as a backing musician where he provided backing vocals, keyboard instruments and a second guitar to the band. In 2009, Klinghoffer founded the band, Dot Hacker, of which he is the key songwriter, singer, rhythm guitarist and piano player.

In October 2009, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, minus John Frusciante, ended their two year hiatus and were joined by Klinghoffer in the studio to begin work on their tenth album. On January 29, 2010, Klinghoffer performed with the Red Hot Chili Peppers for the first time as their lead guitarist at a MusiCares tribute to Neil Young for a performance of Young’s A Man Needs A Maid. On February 8, 2010, Chad Smith confirmed that Klinghoffer was the new guitarist in place of John Frusciante. Klinghoffer is currently working with the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their tenth studio album and his first since joining the band as their guitarist. They plan to begin recording in July 2010. According to drummer Chad Smith, Klinghoffer would also sing, write music and play keyboards on the upcoming album, which is expected to be released in late 2010 or early 2011.

Terry Williams

Terry Williams (born 11 January 1948 - Swansea, Glamorgan, South Wales) is a Welsh rock drummer, whose resume includes work for Dire Straits, B. B. King, and Bob Dylan. During the 1960s, Williams played in a number of Welsh bands, including Commancheros, The Smokeless Zone, Dream and Plum Crazy, before joining Dave Edmunds’ band Love Sculpture. In 1970 he joined the Welsh rock group Man, which included two former Dream and Smokeless Zone members, Deke Leonard and Martin Ace. With Man, he appeared on 7 Studio albums, 3 Live albums and 2 Various artists, Live albums. When Man split in 1976, Williams re-joined Edmunds in the band Rockpile with Nick Lowe and Billy Bremner, and continued working with Leonard.

Between 1981 and 1982, he was part of the Neverland Express band, backing Meat Loaf, and in 1982 joined Dire Straits, with whom he played until 1988 (a period that included their live album Alchemy: Dire Straits Live and Brothers in Arms). In 1996, he rejoined Man, after John Weathers left, but left Man again in 1997.