30 Richest Drummers

Mark Carlisle · Post by **Mark Carlisle** » 3 Sep 2012 9:49 am

Is there a list like this for Steel Players?

01 Ringo Starr (The Beatles, $300 million)
02 Phil Collins (Solo/Genesis, $250 million)
03 Dave Grohl (Nirvana/Foo Fighters, $225 million)
04 Don Henley (The Eagles, $200 million)
05 Lars Ulrich (Metallica, $175 million)
06 Charlie Watts (The Rolling Stones, $160 million)
07 Larry Mullen, Jr. (U2, $150 million)
08 Roger Taylor (Queen, $105 million)
09 Joey Kramer (Aerosmith, $100 million)
10 Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers, $90 million)
11 Travis Barker (Blink-182, $85 million)
12 Stewart Copeland (The Police, $80 million)
13 Alex Van Halen (Van Halen, $75 million)
14 Nick Mason (Pink Floyd, $75 million)
15 Tommy Lee (Motley Crue, $70 million)
16 Bill Ward (Black Sabbath, $65 million)
17 Jon Fishman (Phish, $60 million)
18 Carter Beauford (Dave Matthews Band, $55 million)
19 Rick Allen (Def Leppard, $50 million)
20 Tre Cool (Green Day, $45 million)
21 Danny Carey (Tool, $40 million)
22 Tico Torres (Bon Jovi, $40 million)
23 Max Weinberg (Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band/Conan O’Brien, $35 million)
24 Mickey Hart (The Grateful Dead, $30 million)
25 Bill Kreutzmann (The Grateful Dead, $25 million)
26 Neil Peart (Rush, $22 million)
27 Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters, $20 million)
28 ?uestlove (The Roots, $16 million)
29 Steven Adler (Guns N’ Roses, $15 million)
30 Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac, $8.5 million)

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 3 Sep 2012 10:16 am

What do these numbers represent? Current net worth? Lifetime earnings? Annual concert and royalty income? Or...?

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 3 Sep 2012 10:16 am

Mark Carlisle · Post by **Mark Carlisle** » 3 Sep 2012 10:19 am

http://stereogum.com/1137282/the-30-ric ... orld/list/

Sorry I should have included the link-looks like net worth??

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 3 Sep 2012 10:55 am

I guess that is so, because they are/were all part of bands and they get their royalties, unlike session drummers. Otherwise Kenny Aronoff, Steve Gadd etc. would be in the list.
Although no drummer, Noel Redding from the Jimmi Hendrix Experience, sold his rights to the recordings for a very small amount in the seventies and had died as a rather poor man.

Russ Wever · Post by **Russ Wever** » 3 Sep 2012 11:18 am

How about the list of "The
Worlds 30 Fattest Plumbers"?

Mark van Allen · Post by **Mark van Allen** » 3 Sep 2012 11:31 am

There's a list for steel players, but it's not like that list.

Mark Carlisle · Post by **Mark Carlisle** » 3 Sep 2012 11:34 am

Of all the members of the list, I've got say Max Wienberg can REALLY swing...

Leslie Ehrlich · Post by **Leslie Ehrlich** » 3 Sep 2012 2:52 pm

Notice that all those drummers (with the exception of Phil Collins's and Ringo Starr's solo careers) made their fortunes by playing in bands.

The problem with many steel players, especially country steel players, is that they end up being sidemen for solo performers.

Sidemen won't get fabulously wealthy.

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 3 Sep 2012 8:58 pm

Leslie, aren't the drummers that are playing in bands considered sidemen?
I doubt if there are any similar lists for steel players since most, if not all, are not that well known to the public or that rich.

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 3 Sep 2012 9:07 pm

Of all the members of the list, I've got to say Max Weinberg can really swing...

I would also include Charlie Watts on the short list.
http://theiridium.com/events/1294/charl ... ng-stones/

Leslie Ehrlich · Post by **Leslie Ehrlich** » 3 Sep 2012 10:04 pm

Barry Blackwood wrote:Leslie, aren't the drummers that are playing in bands considered sidemen?
I doubt if there are any similar lists for steel players since most, if not all, are not that well known to the public or that rich.

No, in a band situation I wouldn't consider them sidemen. Sure, lead guitarists and vocalists tend to get the most attention, but drummers are part of the group.

If the drummer is playing for a solo artist on the other hand, then he is a sideman.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 3 Sep 2012 10:40 pm

I think Leslie's point is valid, although undoubtedly the fact that country music was not really a mainstream popular music style during the glory days of steel guitar limited the money potential, regardless of business model.

Leslie, aren't the drummers that are playing in bands considered sidemen?

Not necessarily. Most of these drummers (and most of the rest of the members of those bands) were partners in those enterprises.

There really is a concept - I realize foreign to many people - of a band, where each member partakes in not only the responsibilities of the enterprise, but also the spoils. I realize this isn't how most of the suits like to do things, and the 'band' business model has gradually been diluted the last 40 years. It is generally easier to manage a single 'star' and then have interchangeable hired-guns that they can hire and fire at will. I think The Beatles main claim to fame was to break the 'star' system a bit, and establish that concept of a rock and roll band.

Of course, without a strong demand for drumming skills by bands, these drummers would not have been able to become such integral partners of these successful bands. So that is the other difference - practically every band of this type needs a drummer, pretty much style-independent. Add to that the fact that drumming (and bass) are certainly not the glory-end - singing and lead guitar typically get the big attention in that world, which cuts the supply - good guitarists are, relatively speaking, a dime-a-dozen (I say that as a guitar player), but good drummers and bass players are less ubiquitous. Strong demand + smaller supply = more leverage and more $$$.

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 4 Sep 2012 1:46 am

poor Bernard Purdie & Steve Gadd.....

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 4 Sep 2012 5:40 am

There's even a difference in being a band member or merely an employee of the band.

When he initially was invited to join The Mavericks, Kane figured it was to become a full member. Then Nashville accountant Al Hagaman advised the band to hire him as an employee rather than incorporate him as a band member. This type of situation had grown more common during the '80s and '90s--bands are presented to the public as an equal, fun-loving bunch of friends, but behind the scenes deals have often been cut that give certain members a bigger piece of the pie. In country music, groups like Sawyer Brown and Confederate Railroad have unusual setups like this; current chart contenders Sons of the Desert went along with a record company decision to publicly emphasize three of its five members, thereby downplaying the role of the other two musicians, both of whom were longstanding players in the group. Such decisions may benefit key band members, but in the long run it likely brings a distressing element to the dynamics of the group as a whole.

Nick Kane was their lead guitar player.

It comes from this article:
http://weeklywire.com/ww/08-07-00/nash_music-lede.html

Rick Allen from Def Leppard has only one arm btw.

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 4 Sep 2012 7:46 am

I don't know all the drummers on this list but since the first 4 were also songwriters I'm assuming that a lot of that money came from song royalties.

Makes me sad to realize that realize that Levon Helm had to work so hard at the end of his life because he was cheated out of his royalty money.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 4 Sep 2012 7:57 am

I see that my favorite drummer, Jim Keltner, is nowhere to be found on this list. No problem--his career has been richer than just about everyone on the list.

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 4 Sep 2012 11:37 am

Yes Mike, and his discography will explain it.
http://www.geocities.co.jp/MusicStar/19 ... ltner.html

His secret may be, he uses a fork and pen instead of sticks.

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 4 Sep 2012 2:10 pm

Geez, you'd think Mick Fleetwood would be a lot higher up the list but then again he might have blown $100 million up his nose...

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 4 Sep 2012 2:28 pm

... or bad investments, or managers who rip you off and abscond to Bolivia...

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 4 Sep 2012 3:40 pm

...or ex-wives.

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 4 Sep 2012 6:33 pm

It's ashame Hal Blaine is not on there.

Scott Shewbridge · Post by **Scott Shewbridge** » 4 Sep 2012 7:43 pm

I've been up at a music festival this last weekend, reading my friend's collection of New Yorker magazine. There was an interesting article on Bruce Springsteen in one of the recent editions. It said that all of the E Street "sidemen" are hired by Bruce/management and all await the call before a tour. Interesting that Max Weinberg did so well, even as a "hired" employee. Writing credits perhaps?

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 4 Sep 2012 7:56 pm

It's a shame Hal Blaine is not on there.

Yes it is. Can that mean that his net worth isn't up there with the rest?

Tony Glassman · Post by **Tony Glassman** » 4 Sep 2012 8:45 pm

Joachim Kettner wrote:........
Although no drummer, Noel Redding from the Jimmi Hendrix Experience, sold his rights to the recordings for a very small amount in the seventies and had died as a rather poor man.

Noel Redding was the bass player for the "Experience". Mitch Mitchell was the drummer.......then Buddy Miles took over with "Band of Gypsies"