Charlie Adams (born May 8, 1954) is an American drummer, best known for playing in Yanni's touring band, after having played with Yanni in the early 1980s rock band Chameleon. Adams was born in Joliet, Illinois.[1]
Charlie Adams | |
|---|---|
.JPG) | |
| Background information | |
| Born | May 8, 1954 Joliet, Illinois, United States |
| Instrument(s) | Drums Percussion Drum engineer |
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Formerly of | Chameleon |
Music career
editEarly life
editAdams was born and raised in Joliet, Illinois. Prior to joining Chameleon, he taught drums to local students, including future Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin.[2]
Chameleon
editBand members of regional rock band Chameleon[3] included Adams on drums, vocals, and percussion; Yanni on keyboards and synthesizers; Dugan McNeill on lead vocals and bass guitars; Johnny Donaldson on all guitars; and Mark Anthony on lead vocals and keyboards.[4] Their albums included Chameleon, Techno-color, Hologram Sky, and Balance.[4] The group was noted for Adams' revolving gyroscope drum kit, who played his rapidly spinning drums before Mötley Crüe's Tommy Lee's similar arrangement.[3]
Yanni
editIn 1987, Yanni formed his first touring band to promote his album Out of Silence, as well as selections from Keys to Imagination. This early band included Yanni, John Tesh and Joyce Imbesi on keyboards, and Adams on drums.[5] He is also featured in both Live at the Acropolis released in 1994 and Live at Royal Albert Hall released in 1995.[6]
Adams did not join the Tribute concert at the Taj Mahal and Forbidden City as he had to help raise his son with autism issues and thus was replaced by rock/jazz drummer Joel Taylor for the entire tour. After Yanni's hiatus following Tribute, Adams returned in 2001.
Adams reunited again with Yanni for the 2003/2004 Ethnicity concert tour.[7]
Discography
editAdams is credited[8] as drummer or percussionist in the following albums, produced by Yanni unless otherwise noted.
| Year | Tour / Album[8] | Billboard New Age (peak)[9][10] |
Billboard 200 (peak)[9][10] |
Notes[8] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Out of Silence | |||
| 1988 | Chameleon Days | |||
| 1988 | A Thousand Summers | John Tesh | ||
| 1989 | Niki Nana | 2 | ||
| 1992 | Yanni Gift Set (Reflections of Passion/In Celebration of Life) | |||
| 1992 | Romantic Moments | |||
| 1992 | Dare to Dream | 2 | 32 | Grammy-nominated (New Age)[11] |
| 1994 | Live at the Acropolis | 1 | 5 | Sept. 1993 concerts at the Acropolis of Athens; second best selling music video of all time[12] |
| 1999 | Love Songs | |||
| 2006 | Yanni Live! The Concert Event | 1 | 84 | 2004 concert; No. 4 selling New Age album of both 2006 and 2007[13] Peaked at No. 6 Billboard Top Independent Album (2006)[9] |
| 2010 | Love Songs/Reflections of Passion |
Influences
editAdams has indicated his musical influences to include Buddy Rich, the Beatles, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.[14]
References
edit- ^ "Bio at the City of Joliet website". cityofjoliet.com. Archived from the original on 2018-08-14. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- ^ "Jimmy Chamberlin Profile - Drummer World". drummerworld.com. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
- ^ a b Lounges, Tom (January 28, 2016). "Global superstar Yanni's Region rock past". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Archived from the original on May 11, 2016.
- ^ a b "Chameleon". geocities.com. Archived from the original on 2009-10-24. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- ^ Yanni; Rensin, David (2002). Yanni in Words. Miramax Books. p. 123. ISBN 1-4013-5194-8.
- ^ "Live at the Acropolis - Yanni". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
- ^ Yanni Newsletter: Fall 2003; volume 8 number 2. Yanni.com. 2003.
- ^ a b c "Charlie Adams / Credits". Allmusic.com. May 11, 2016. Archived from the original on May 11, 2016.
- ^ a b c Yanni / Billboard albums (WebCite archives of 2012-04-29 and 2012-06-20), Allmusic's listing of Billboard's album data, sorted by peak.
- ^ a b "Billboard Legacy | Billboard 200 Albums of the Year...", Billboard, (WebCite archives on 2014-05-29 of first and second[dead link] pages for Yanni).
- ^ Bekheet, Diaa, "Yanni’s North America Tour, Truth of Touch" (WebCite archive), Voice of America News, Jazz Beat, January 23, 2012.
- ^ Klangboonkrong, Manta, "On a high with Yanni" (WebCite archive), The Nation (Thailand), October 13, 2011.
- ^ Links to Billboard's "Best of (year) / New Age Albums" for 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
- ^ Barron, Jeff (May 6, 2016). "Yanni drummer featured at workshop". Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021.
External links
edit
- Official website
- Charlie Adams at AllMusic
- Charlie Adams at Drummer World.com
- Chameleon at MusicMight.com[permanent dead link]
- Charlie Adams at IMDb
- Charlie Adams discography at Discogs