Dave Lombardo

David Lombardo (born February 16, 1965) is a Cuban-American drummer, best known as a co-founding member of the thrash metal band Slayer.

He currently plays drums with Fantômas, Dead Cross, Mr. Bungle, Empire State Bastard, and Misfits.

Lombardo was born in Havana, Cuba, on February 16, 1965, where his father owned three meat markets.

Lombardo returned to playing rock music in 1978 and befriended several like-minded musicians around South Gate.

Lombardo attended Pius X High School.

He performed Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" with a guitarist named Peter Fashing during the school's talent show.

"I'll never forget the roar of the crowd during the drum solo. We brought the house down," said Lombardo, who became known as "David the Drummer" the following day.

Lombardo soon formed a band named Escape with two guitarists.

Lombardo found a vocalist to join the band after he transferred to South Gate High School in 1979.

The band performed at several events under the name Sabotage, but the band was short-lived.

Lombardo's parents convinced him to quit the band because he was withdrawing from everything except music.

Knowing her son was set on pursuing a life on the stage, Lombardo's mother asked him to at least graduate high school.

He honored her wish and graduated from South Gate High School in June 1983.

Immediately following, Lombardo was recommended by his Technical Drafting teacher to Diesel Energy Systems Company.

Impressed with his skill, Lombardo was hired on the spot.

Around this time, Lombardo's musical career was ready to take off.

When he was 16, Lombardo's friends told him about a guitar player, Kerry King, who lived a few blocks away.

Lombardo dropped by King's house to meet him.

Lombardo introduced himself, mentioned he played drums, and shared that he wanted to start a band.

Lombardo previously played drums on nine Slayer albums, including Reign in Blood (1986) and Christ Illusion (2006).

His music career has spanned over 40 years, during which he has been involved in the production of 35 commercial recordings covering a number of genres.

He has performed with numerous other bands, including Grip Inc., Philm and Fantômas, in addition to Slayer.

Lombardo is widely known as an aggressive heavy metal drummer.

His drumming has been praised as "astonishingly innovative".

Drummerworld named him "The Godfather of Double Bass".

He has had a significant influence on the metal scene and inspired modern metal drummers, particularly extreme metal drummers.

He is of Italian descent through his paternal great-grandfather, who relocated to Cuba in the 19th century.

Lombardo moved with his family to South Gate, California, when he was two years old, and still speaks Spanish.

He has two older brothers and an older sister; his brothers had previously emigrated to the US via Operation Peter Pan.

His musical interests were fueled by his first musical performance when he was eight years old; he played bongos to Santana's "Everybody's Everything".

Lombardo joined his school's band and played the marching drum.

After noticing his son's persistent interest in music, Lombardo's father bought him a five-piece Pearl Maxwin drum set for $350 when Lombardo was ten years old.

Lombardo bought his first record, Alive! by Kiss, to play along with.

He learned to play Kiss' "100,000 Years" by repeatedly listening to the record until he could play the drum solo perfectly.

Lombardo asked his parents for drum lessons.

Although they agreed, the lessons were short-lived.

Lombardo grew bored because the lessons were repetitive and did not challenge him.

Lombardo's friends introduced him to disco, which appealed to his affinity for funk, Latin and soul.

He became a temporary DJ for a mobile disc jockey under the name A Touch of Class.

Unimpressed with their son coming home at 4:00am, Lombardo's parents pressured him into quitting the DJ gig or face military school.