Success as a musician doesn’t just drop into your lap, a fact that Joshua Jones knows all too well. The Chicago-born percussionist has spent nearly two decades honing his craft, just to get a chance at maybe landing a slot in an orchestra.
But Jones shouldn’t be discouraged. Many of the world’s most famous percussionists had to grind for a long time before they came within shouting distance of anything resembling success. Check out a few examples of some of the best and their origin stories below:
Neil Peart
Peart is considered by many to be one of the best drummers in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. His highly technical and intricate drum-playing with the band Rush made him a household name, but he didn’t get there overnight.
The “YYZ” drummer left his native Canada around the age of 18. In spite of his many years of training, he couldn’t find success in his homeland as a drummer. He ended up in London, where he was able to land gigs in a few bands but still not enough to make a living as a musician. Peart made ends meet in England by selling trinkets to tourists and eventually returned to Canada to sell tractor parts for his father. He didn’t join Rush until 1974, four years after he left for England and nearly a decade after he took up the drums in the first place.
Buddy Rich
The famed jazz percussionist almost certainly had the earliest start out of anyone on this list. Rich began performing professionally at the age of 18 months as a vaudeville act.
In spite of that early start, it was another two decades before Rich performed on a major recording. Though he was only 21 at the time of his recording with the Vic Shoen Orchestra in 1938, at that point Rich had been playing percussion for almost 20 years. Rich went on to inspire other famous percussionists like Phil Collins, Queen’s Roger Taylor and The Clash’s Topper Headon.
Questlove
The famous Roots drummer and Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon mainstay got his start early on in life, but success was still a long ways off. Questlove was drumming onstage in his parents’ doo-wop shows by the age of seven, but didn’t begin to see success with his high-school band The Square Roots (later just “The Roots”) until he was 24.
The releases of Do You Want More?!!!??! and Illadelph Halflife brought the Roots critical acclaim throughout the late ’90s, but that didn’t translate into sales until their 2000 release Things Fall Apart, which dropped when Quest was 28.
Elvin Jones
Jazz percussionist Elvin Jones was the backbone of some of the most important recordings of the post-bop era. But he took the long way round to get there. Though his fascination with drumming started at the age of 2 (thanks to marching bands in hometown parades), Jones’ most important career phase wouldn’t begin until he was well into his 30s.
Jones had served in the military and tried unsuccessfully to make a name for himself as a percussionist throughout his 20s. But he didn’t get on until he was recruited to join John Coltrane’s quartet at the age of 33. All that time paid off as Jones ended up playing on some of the most famous jazz records of all time.
Alex Van Halen
Alex is known throughout the world as drummer of the classic rock band’s namesake, Van Halen. But it took him a while before he hit it big. Van Halen formed his first band in the fourth grade and played constantly throughout his school years. Even so, Van Halen as we know them didn’t see any sort of success until 1977, when they were signed to Warner Brothers. In total, Alex played in bands for 15 years before being signed and releasing his first album.
