John Robinson

At eight he got his first drum kit – a secondhand 1940s Ludwig set with no toms, just snare, bass, hi-hat and one Zildjian cymbal.

At age ten he formed a duo with Kevin Clemens who played electric guitar.

John Frederick Robinson (born December 29, 1954), known professionally as JR, is an American drummer and session musician who has been called "one of the most recorded drummers in history".

He is known for his work with producer Quincy Jones, including Michael Jackson's multi-platinum Off the Wall album and the charity single "We Are the World".

JR was born on December 29, 1954, in Creston, Iowa.

His parents, Helen Sloan and Jack Robinson, made certain he had an education in music, starting him in piano lessons at age five.

JR's father played violin as a hobby, and his mother played him big band records, pointing out the elements of swing.

Robinson senior was also the arranger for the local choir Creston Chorus.

Both his grandfathers were musical.

His favorite record at age seven was "When the Saints Go Marching In" from the soundtrack of the 1959 film The Five Pennies.

His next drum kit was a new 1966 Ludwig Champagne Sparkle set.

Tall and athletic, JR wavered between a basketball or music career, choosing music.

At 14, he performed with the Iowa Big Band, and he played drums in high school band, using a maple drum kit, the Ludwig White Marine Pearl.

JR went to jazz band camp at Northwest Missouri State University and Illinois State University where he met drummer/teacher Ed Soph who helped JR break some of his bad habits, training him in traditional grip.

Soph encouraged him to enroll at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

JR gigged with the Tommy Dorsey Band in 1973, finding that the old, yellowed charts were very extensive, more than 1200 songs.

In August 1973, the Pointer Sisters opened for Chicago at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Des Moines.

JR attended the concert, and he was moved by the Pointer Sisters' songs "Cloudburst" and "Yes We Can Can".

He said he "always wanted to play with them".

Seven years later he played on the Pointer Sisters' hit song "Slow Hand".

Arriving at Berklee in 1973, JR was taught by drum educator and theorist Gary Chaffee who advocated linear drumming, and jazz drummer Alan Dawson.

JR's schoolmates included bass guitarist Neil Stubenhaus and drummers Steve Smith, Kenwood Dennard, Vinnie Colaiuta and Casey Scheuerell.

Dawson helped change JR's bass drum footing to a heel-down style, which took years to master.

JR studied xylophone and vibraphone with Dave Samuels, and they gigged together.

By 1974, JR was working as a studio musician for Professor John LaPorta who needed a precise drummer for his teaching tapes.

After five semesters of Berklee classes, JR left school but stayed in Boston to focus on gigging.

He toured in a band called Shelter, and in March 1978 at the Rare Cherry nightclub outside of Cleveland, his band was surprised to find they were opening for Rufus and Chaka Khan.

After the Shelter set, Rufus and Chaka Khan came on stage to ask JR to stay and play with them.

This invitation extended through the whole evening.

JR's drum fill kicks off Jackson's chart topper "Rock with You", and his drum solo opens the Steve Winwood album Back in the High Life (1986) to begin the number 1 song "Higher Love".

In the 1990s, his film score assignments shifted into high gear, drumming for Hans Zimmer, Christophe Beck and James Newton Howard.

And throughout JR's career he has collaborated with jazz artists ranging from Jeff Lorber to David Benoit to Sadao Watanabe.

JR said he is "a chameleon kind of drummer".

Rolling Stone listed JR in 2016 at number 81 in their list of the top 100 "Greatest Drummers of All Time".

He was awarded one Grammy Award for the Rufus and Chaka Khan single "Ain't Nobody", but has played drums on more than fifty Grammy winning works.

JR plays in many different styles.

His first fame came with the funk band Rufus, and he recorded dance/funk hits with the Pointer Sisters.

In the pop and rock fields, his work stretches from the straight-up rock of John Fogerty, Bonnie Raitt and Peter Frampton to the mainstream pop of Lady Gaga, Daft Punk, Wilson Phillips and Madonna.

JR has backed many contemporary R&B singers including Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie and Anita Baker, as well as vocal pop/soft rock singers such as Barbra Streisand, Seal, Peter Cetera and Rod Stewart.

He played on a string of pure country hits by George Strait, Clint Black and Toby Keith.