JOHN BLACKWELL

John Blackwell Jr., the sound, funk and  fury behind Prince and the New Power Generation  is a spectacle for the eyes and ears. Blackwell’s  slamming tight grooves, popping snare and furiously  flamboyant drumstick twirling and cross-arm strokes must  be seen to be believed.

Blackwell, born in  Columbia South Carolina, was raised in a very musical  family. John’s father, John Sr., was a very well known  professional drummer who performed with acts like The  Drifters, The Spinners and Mary Wells. John Jr. got his  first drumset at age 3 and was brought to many concerts  that came through South Carolina by his father. While in  high school, John was playing in the High School Jazz  and Marching Band while performing every weekend with  the R&B/Jazz/Fusion group, Robert Newton &  Lotusfete as well as with Billy Eckstine.

In 1992  John chose to further pursue his drum studies by  enrolling into Berklee College of Music in Boston,  Massachusetts. John kept himself extremely busy and  created a strong buzz about him while performing as much  as possible with many Jazz and R&B artists around  Boston. John was also teaching students and performing  drum clinics during his time away from college. John  left Berklee in 1995 and landed the gig with legendary  funk group Cameo who he played with for the next 3  years. In 1998 after his time with Cameo, John packed up  and moved to Los Angeles, California. Blackwell was in  LA for only 3 days when he landed the drum position for  the legendary R&B Diva, Patti LaBelle. During this  time John recorded for LaBelle’s Grammy Award winning  CD, DVD and VHS, "Patti LaBelle-Live One Night  Only".

Visit John's website - johnblackwell.net