(SOUNDBITE OF FOO FIGHTERS SONG, "MY HERO")
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
When it comes to bands, drummers are rarely in the spotlight, and yet they provide the rhythm, the tempo, the beat that can make a song unforgettable.
(SOUNDBITE OF FOO FIGHTERS SONG, "MY HERO")
RASCOE: But in popular culture, they're often the punch line. In the 1984 mockumentary, "This Is Spinal Tap," one drummer famously met a bizarre end.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THIS IS SPINAL TAP")
MICHAEL MCKEAN: (As David St. Hubbins) Dozens of people spontaneously combust each year.
RASCOE: Today, though, drummers are facing a new kind of threat. More than a dozen high-profile drummers have either been fired or retired from their bands this year in what's been dubbed...
CHRISTOPHER WEINGARTEN: The drumpocalypse.
RASCOE: That's Christopher Weingarten, a music journalist who's been writing about the trend for the online music blog Stereogum. Among the bands parting ways with their drummers - Guns N' Roses, Foo Fighters and The Who.
WEINGARTEN: I think this is unprecedented.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE WHO SONG, "WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN")
WEINGARTEN: The Who firing Zak Starkey was headlines because he's been in the band for almost 30 years, you know. He was - he was in the band longer than Keith Moon was in the band.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
RASCOE: Another firing, Josh Freese, the drummer of the Foo Fighters.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
WEINGARTEN: Josh Freese is probably the most reliable hired gun in all of alternative rock. He is a machine.
RASCOE: And he's got the resume to back it up.
WEINGARTEN: He's played for Devo for many years. He's played with Nine Inch Nails, with Guns N' Roses, with Weezer, with The Offspring. He is the guy.
RASCOE: So what's behind the drumpocalypse?
WEINGARTEN: Occam's razor will tell you that it's just a coincidence.
RASCOE: But Weingarten says age is a big factor and...
WEINGARTEN: The economic reality now is different than it was 20 years ago.
RASCOE: Drummers aren't making the big bucks they used to, and the lifestyle isn't glamorous. Years on the road takes its toll. But when one drummer steps down, someone else gets to pick up the drumsticks.
JOHN HOFFMAN: I kind of had to go trial by fire.
RASCOE: That's John Hoffman, who recently joined the rock band Primus.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
RASCOE: He beat out more than 6,000 other drummers for the gig.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
RASCOE: And now he says his new bandmates are watching him grow into his new role and become a rock star.
HOFFMAN: I think that on one hand, they're giving me sort of room to grow and space to spread my wings, but I think they also kind of in some ways, get a kick out of watching me sort of experience these new things that they've been, you know, involved in for decades and decades.
(SOUNDBITE OF PRIMUS SONG, "DUCHESS (AND THE PROVERBIAL MIND SPREAD)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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