Jonathan Moffett

Jonathan Phillip "Sugarfoot" Moffett (born November 17, 1954) is an American drummer, songwriter and producer from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Beginning in 1979, Moffett collaborated with the Jackson family, particularly Michael Jackson, over the course of 30 years.

More recently, he has worked with other notable artists and producers such as Madonna, George Michael, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones and many others.

Moffett is the third of a musical family of siblings.

His two other brothers played the guitar and the bass guitar, while Jonathan's father encouraged him to drum.

His influences are Zigaboo, Buddy Rich, Louis Bellson, Billy Cobham, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Roger Taylor and other drummers, mostly originating from New Orleans.

He initially wanted to play the bass guitar long before drums.

He was always acutely aware of the bass guitar parts in songs and mimicked them on the bass drum.

Moffett was never musically trained and learned to play drums on his own by ear.

He was nicknamed "Sugarfoot" for his quick, articulate, and pronounced bass drum work, which requires a lot of precision and stamina for a drummer.

In 1979, through serendipity, he came across the Jacksons' musical director, James McField, who told him they were auditioning for a new drummer.

Though the final auditions were that day, they extended it for him, knowing how eager he was to play for the group.

His first major tour was the Destiny Tour (1979–1980).

After his first show with the group, Michael Jackson was in awe by Moffett's ability to keep up with his dancing, always accenting his dance moves, which gave his dancing more power and prominence.

He also used his "one-handed cymbal catch" frequently, in which Moffett explained to Zildjian:

"With the Jacksons, I'll use it to accent certain moments before the vocal chorus. OR when Michael makes a move and stops real quick, I'll accent that with a catch. You've got to do it fast and drop back into the rhythm without breaking time."

The Victory Tour promoted Michael Jackson's albums Off the Wall (1979) and Thriller (1982) and was promoted by Don King.

Moffett performed with Eddie Van Halen, who made a few special appearances on some of the shows playing "Beat It" on guitar.

Prince complimented Moffett after many shows with the Jacksons (and did the same seeing him live with other artists).

He'd nod his head, smile, and say, "That was bad, you're bad."

When Moffett turned professional, he designed innovative futuristic drum kits for every tour to complement the stage design.

His work with the Jacksons and unique drumming style led him to become one of the most in-demand pop music drummers and perform on 23 world tours.

He proceeded to perform on the Triumph Tour in 1981, which Rolling Stone later named as one of the best 25 tours of 1967 to 1987.

Epic decided to have one of the shows from the tour recorded due to its immense popularity and success.

He is credited for live drumming on The Jacksons Live! album (1981), which was RIAA-certified Gold.

The double-disc album contains recordings of songs performed throughout the Triumph Tour.

According to an article by Robyn Flans in Drummer Magazine in September 1984, Moffett said:

"He [McField] called that night and the audition was set for the next day. I was familiar with their songs [the Jacksons'] because I had grown up with their music, yet I didn't know everything about the music...After we finished a few songs, they pulled me aside and said they'd let me know something soon. That evening, I got the call and they said they wanted me to join the group. It was just a miracle."

Moffett also drummed around the United States and Canada for the record-breaking and famous Victory Tour (1984), where he met Madonna backstage who asked him to drum for her upcoming Virgin Tour (1985).

Moffett was present during the infamous Pepsi commercial shoot in 1984 when Jackson suffered from second-degree burns from the blazing pyrotechnics.

He noticed the flames on Jackson's hair at one point during the shoot and dropped his drum sticks and ran to help him just as some crew members did the same.

He also later recorded on the Jacksons' albums Victory (1984) and 2300 Jackson Street (1989).

After their initial meet during the Jacksons' Victory Tour, Moffett finally agreed to tour with Madonna on her debut tour, the Virgin Tour alongside Victory Tour bandmate, Patrick Leonard (musical director/keyboardist).

The tour took place only in the United States and Canada.

He was featured in Madonna's 1985 "Dress You Up" music video which was basically concert footage of her performing the song during the Virgin Tour.

With the success of the tour, which was also released as a video album, Madonna requested Moffett to tour with her on her second tour, the Who's That Girl Tour (1987).

He plays 16th note, 32nd note, and 64th note figures energetically and fluidly within rhythms.

Moffett started off his drumming career by performing locally with prominent bands within the region and at nightclubs as a young boy.

He came up with his kung-fu inspired signature moves during a marathon practice session late one evening—the "one-handed cymbal catch" and his "backlash-whiplash" cymbal crashes (single and/or double hand) where he places two cymbals behind him and crashes/chokes them without looking.

Moffett's professional career initially started with the Jacksons.