Simon Wright
Encyclopedia
Simon Wright is an English drummer best known for his stints with rock n' roll bands AC/DC
and Dio
. He first started playing drums at the age of 13 and cites Cozy Powell
, Tommy Aldridge
and John Bonham
as his greatest influences. He is currently the drummer for the band Rhino Bucket
.
group A II Z
, a New Wave of British Heavy Metal
band founded in 1979 in Manchester, England by guitarist Gary Owens. The full line-up consisted of David Owens (vocals), Gary Owens (guitar), Gam Campbell (bass), Karl Reti (drums). They rapidly acquired a local following in Manchester, and were quickly snapped up by Polydor Records, eager to cash in on the exploding NWOBHM boom. A single live album, The Witch of Berkley, followed in 1980. Reti was subsequently replaced by Wright. The band then promptly disintegrated and Wright went on to perform in Tytan
and recorded on their full-length debut album Rough Justice, however; that band also dissolved shortly before the release of the debut.
Wright joined AC/DC after their drummer, Phil Rudd
, was fired in 1983 (reinstated in 1994). AC/DC recorded three albums with Wright in the mid-late 80s; Fly on the Wall, Who Made Who
and Blow Up Your Video
. Wright then left the group in 1989 to join Dio
, and was replaced by Chris Slade
. Simon Wright joined Rhino Bucket
when he wasn't working with Dio to replace the departed Liam Jason for their third album, 1994's independently released Pain. In 2007, he reunited with the band and is featured on their latest album The Hardest Town
.
Wright has had two stints with Dio
, 1990–91 and 1998–2010. With the band he has recorded four studio albums (Lock up the Wolves
, Magica
, Killing the Dragon
and Master of the Moon
) and two live albums (Evil or Divine - Live In New York City
and Holy Diver - Live
).
His drumming can also be heard on albums by UFO
, Michael Schenker Group
and John Norum
.
In 2005, Wright participated on a tribute
album to Heavy metal
icons Iron Maiden
. It was his second time doing a tribute disc; the first experience being in 1998 on an AC/DC tribute album titled Thunderbolt.
In 2006 Wright is credited in the song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" on the album Butchering the Beatles, a heavy metal tribute.
In August 2009, Wright teamed up with Joe Lynn Turner
, Phil Soussan
and Carlos Cavazo
as part of the Big Noize project, playing shows in Iraq and Kuwait.
drums. He uses the collectors maple series.
His drum sizes are,
18x22 bass drums (x2)
10x12, 11x13, 13x15, 14x18 Tom-Toms
6.5x14 Edge Snare
6x14 Collector's Maple Snare
5.5x14 Solid Maple Snare
5000TD3 Delta3 Turbo Single Bass Drum Pedal (x2)
5500TD Delta Turbo Hi-Hat Stand
9300 Snare Drum Stand
9934 Double Tom/Cymbal Stand
9700 Straight/Boom Cymbal Stand (x5)
9100 Drum Throne
799 DogBone (x2)
Products Used:
AF Patch – Kevlar Single Pedal
13" Onyx 2-ply
15" G2 Coated
18" G2 Coated
14" Hazy 300
15" EC Resonant
18" EC Resonant
13" G1 Clear
14" AAX Metal Hats w/ Sizzle Bottom Hat
18" AA China
16" AA Metal Crash
18" AAX Metal Crash
19" AAX Metal Crash
22" AAX Heavy Ride
20" AA China
20" AA Rock Crash
20" AA Metal Crash w/ Sizzles
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
and Dio
Dio (band)
Dio was an American heavy metal band from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Formed in 1982 and led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, after he left Black Sabbath with intentions to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath member, drummer Vinny Appice. Naming the band Dio made sense from a commercial...
. He first started playing drums at the age of 13 and cites Cozy Powell
Cozy Powell
Colin Flooks , better known as Cozy Powell, was an English rock drummer who made his name with many major rock bands.-Early history:...
, Tommy Aldridge
Tommy Aldridge
Tommy Aldridge is a veteran heavy metal and hard rock drummer. Aldridge is noted for his work with numerous bands and vocalists, most notable being Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers Band, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore, Whitesnake, Ted Nugent and Thin Lizzy.Self taught, Aldridge was inspired by Cream,...
and John Bonham
John Bonham
John Henry Bonham was an English musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer of Led Zeppelin. Bonham was esteemed for his speed, power, fast right foot, distinctive sound, and "feel" for the groove...
as his greatest influences. He is currently the drummer for the band Rhino Bucket
Rhino Bucket
Rhino Bucket is a hard rock band from Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California.The band was formed in 1988 by Georg Dolivo , Greg Fields , Reeve Downes , and Rick Kubach . This lineup played the Los Angeles rock scene for a year with contemporaries such as Junkyard, The Four Horsemen, Rage Against the...
.
Career
Wright began his career with local band Tora Tora (not to be confused with the American glam metal group), before joining ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
group A II Z
A II Z
A II Z was a heavy metal band founded in 1979 in Manchester, England by guitarist Gary Owens. The original lineup consisted of David Owens , Gary Owens , Cam Campbell , Karl Reti . For a short time they were one of the forerunners of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement...
, a New Wave of British Heavy Metal
New Wave of British Heavy Metal
The New Wave of British Heavy Metal was a heavy metal movement that started in the late 1970s, in Britain, and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. The movement developed as a reaction in part to the decline of early heavy metal bands such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Black...
band founded in 1979 in Manchester, England by guitarist Gary Owens. The full line-up consisted of David Owens (vocals), Gary Owens (guitar), Gam Campbell (bass), Karl Reti (drums). They rapidly acquired a local following in Manchester, and were quickly snapped up by Polydor Records, eager to cash in on the exploding NWOBHM boom. A single live album, The Witch of Berkley, followed in 1980. Reti was subsequently replaced by Wright. The band then promptly disintegrated and Wright went on to perform in Tytan
Tytan (band)
-History:Tytan was a British heavy metal band formed at the height of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal in the fall of 1981 by the former Angel Witch rhythm section, bassist Kevin Riddles and drummer Dave Dufort , Scottish vocalist Norman 'Kal' Swan, and guitarists Steve Gibbs and Stuart Adams...
and recorded on their full-length debut album Rough Justice, however; that band also dissolved shortly before the release of the debut.
Wright joined AC/DC after their drummer, Phil Rudd
Phil Rudd
Phillip Hugh Norman Rudd is an Australian drummer. He is best known for his membership of rock band AC/DC from 1975 until 1983, and again from 1994 to present. After the 1977 departure of bass guitarist Mark Evans, he became the only Australian-born member of the band...
, was fired in 1983 (reinstated in 1994). AC/DC recorded three albums with Wright in the mid-late 80s; Fly on the Wall, Who Made Who
Who Made Who
Who Made Who is a hard rock album by Australian band AC/DC, released in 1986 as the soundtrack to the Stephen King movie Maximum Overdrive...
and Blow Up Your Video
Blow Up Your Video
Blow Up Your Video is the 11th Australian and 10th international studio album by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, first released on 1988. It was later released in the US on 1 February 1988...
. Wright then left the group in 1989 to join Dio
Dio (band)
Dio was an American heavy metal band from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Formed in 1982 and led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, after he left Black Sabbath with intentions to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath member, drummer Vinny Appice. Naming the band Dio made sense from a commercial...
, and was replaced by Chris Slade
Chris Slade
Chris Slade is a Welsh rock drummer.-Career:Slade has worked with Gary Numan, Tom Jones, Olivia Newton-John , and Uriah Heep. He was a member of Manfred Mann's Earth Band from 1972 to 1978...
. Simon Wright joined Rhino Bucket
Rhino Bucket
Rhino Bucket is a hard rock band from Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California.The band was formed in 1988 by Georg Dolivo , Greg Fields , Reeve Downes , and Rick Kubach . This lineup played the Los Angeles rock scene for a year with contemporaries such as Junkyard, The Four Horsemen, Rage Against the...
when he wasn't working with Dio to replace the departed Liam Jason for their third album, 1994's independently released Pain. In 2007, he reunited with the band and is featured on their latest album The Hardest Town
The Hardest Town
The Hardest Town is the follow-up to 2006's And Then It Got Ugly by Rhino Bucket. It is their second album to feature Simon Wright as drummer...
.
Wright has had two stints with Dio
Dio (band)
Dio was an American heavy metal band from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Formed in 1982 and led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, after he left Black Sabbath with intentions to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath member, drummer Vinny Appice. Naming the band Dio made sense from a commercial...
, 1990–91 and 1998–2010. With the band he has recorded four studio albums (Lock up the Wolves
Lock up the Wolves
Lock Up the Wolves is Dio's fifth album, released on May 15, 1990. It displayed a complete change of musician line-up over the previous Dream Evil album, including eighteen year old guitarist Rowan Robertson, and Simon Wright on drums who played with AC/DC from 1983-88.-Track listing:All lyrics by...
, Magica
Magica (album)
Magica is Dio's eighth studio album. It is a concept album and it was released on March 21, 2000, through Spitfire Records. A 2007 re-release puts Magica together with Killing the Dragon....
, Killing the Dragon
Killing the Dragon
Killing the Dragon is Dio's ninth studio album. It was released May 21, 2002 through Spitfire Records and was produced by frontman Ronnie James Dio. A re-release in 2007 puts Killing the Dragon together with Magica....
and Master of the Moon
Master of the Moon
Master of the Moon is Dio's tenth and final studio album. The album was released on September 7, 2004 in America through Sanctuary Records and August 30, 2004 in Europe through SPV Records....
) and two live albums (Evil or Divine - Live In New York City
Evil or Divine - Live In New York City
Evil or Divine - Live in New York City is a 2005 live album by the heavy metal band Dio, recorded in New York City in 2002. It was also released as a live in-concert DVD.-Track listing:#"Killing the Dragon" – 5:15...
and Holy Diver - Live
Holy Diver - Live
Holy Diver - Live is a live album by the heavy metal band Dio recorded on tour in 2005. On Disc 1, the band performs Holy Diver in it's entirety, while disc 2 contains live versions of other songs from Dio's back catalog...
).
His drumming can also be heard on albums by UFO
UFO (band)
UFO are an English heavy metal and hard rock band, who were formed in 1969. UFO became a transitional group between early hard rock and heavy metal and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal...
, Michael Schenker Group
Michael Schenker
Michael Schenker is a German rock guitarist, best known for his tenure in UFO, in addition to his solo band. He first rose to fame as a founding member of the Scorpions, then achieved fame in the mid 1970s as the lead guitar player for UFO. Since leaving UFO in 1978, he has been leading the...
and John Norum
John Norum
John Norum is a rock music guitarist and founder of the Swedish band Europe . Concurrent to his role with Europe, he also maintains a side solo project...
.
In 2005, Wright participated on a tribute
Tribute
A tribute is wealth, often in kind, that one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often the case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance. Various ancient states, which could be called suzerains, exacted tribute from areas they had conquered or threatened to conquer...
album to Heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
icons Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
. It was his second time doing a tribute disc; the first experience being in 1998 on an AC/DC tribute album titled Thunderbolt.
In 2006 Wright is credited in the song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" on the album Butchering the Beatles, a heavy metal tribute.
In August 2009, Wright teamed up with Joe Lynn Turner
Joe Lynn Turner
Joe Lynn Turner , is an American rock singer, known for his works with Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Deep Purple. From the late 1990s, he continued to perform in a large number of solo albums and other studio projects...
, Phil Soussan
Phil Soussan
Phil Soussan is a bass guitarist, songwriter and producer who has gained notoriety as a member of a host of famed rock and roll bands, including some who have been fronted by such vocalists as Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Idol, Vince Neil, Johnny Hallyday and John Waite, as well as a membership in Beggars...
and Carlos Cavazo
Carlos Cavazo
Carlos Cavazo is a Mexican-born American guitarist best known as the guitarist for Quiet Riot during their commercial peak. Born July 8, 1957, Cavazo is originally from Mexico City where their first band with his brother Antonio Cavazo was called Speed of Light...
as part of the Big Noize project, playing shows in Iraq and Kuwait.
Drum kit
Simon is an endorser of DWDrum Workshop
Drum Workshop is a drum and hardware manufacturing company based in Oxnard, California. Their slogan is "The Drummer's Choice".-History:...
drums. He uses the collectors maple series.
His drum sizes are,
18x22 bass drums (x2)
10x12, 11x13, 13x15, 14x18 Tom-Toms
6.5x14 Edge Snare
6x14 Collector's Maple Snare
5.5x14 Solid Maple Snare
5000TD3 Delta3 Turbo Single Bass Drum Pedal (x2)
5500TD Delta Turbo Hi-Hat Stand
9300 Snare Drum Stand
9934 Double Tom/Cymbal Stand
9700 Straight/Boom Cymbal Stand (x5)
9100 Drum Throne
799 DogBone (x2)
Drumheads
Simon also uses Evans Drum heads.Products Used:
AF Patch – Kevlar Single Pedal
13" Onyx 2-ply
15" G2 Coated
18" G2 Coated
14" Hazy 300
15" EC Resonant
18" EC Resonant
13" G1 Clear
Cymbals
Simon uses Sabian Cymbals as well.14" AAX Metal Hats w/ Sizzle Bottom Hat
18" AA China
16" AA Metal Crash
18" AAX Metal Crash
19" AAX Metal Crash
22" AAX Heavy Ride
20" AA China
20" AA Rock Crash
20" AA Metal Crash w/ Sizzles
With AC/DC
- Fly on the Wall (1985)
- Who Made WhoWho Made WhoWho Made Who is a hard rock album by Australian band AC/DC, released in 1986 as the soundtrack to the Stephen King movie Maximum Overdrive...
(1986) - Blow Up Your VideoBlow Up Your VideoBlow Up Your Video is the 11th Australian and 10th international studio album by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, first released on 1988. It was later released in the US on 1 February 1988...
(1988)
With Dio
- Lock Up the WolvesLock up the WolvesLock Up the Wolves is Dio's fifth album, released on May 15, 1990. It displayed a complete change of musician line-up over the previous Dream Evil album, including eighteen year old guitarist Rowan Robertson, and Simon Wright on drums who played with AC/DC from 1983-88.-Track listing:All lyrics by...
(1990) - MagicaMagica (album)Magica is Dio's eighth studio album. It is a concept album and it was released on March 21, 2000, through Spitfire Records. A 2007 re-release puts Magica together with Killing the Dragon....
(2000) - Killing the DragonKilling the DragonKilling the Dragon is Dio's ninth studio album. It was released May 21, 2002 through Spitfire Records and was produced by frontman Ronnie James Dio. A re-release in 2007 puts Killing the Dragon together with Magica....
(2002) - Master of the MoonMaster of the MoonMaster of the Moon is Dio's tenth and final studio album. The album was released on September 7, 2004 in America through Sanctuary Records and August 30, 2004 in Europe through SPV Records....
(2004)
With Rhino Bucket
- PAINPain (Rhino Bucket album)PAIN was released on 1 June 1994 by Rhino Bucket. It is their first effort with Simon Wright as drummer.-Track listing:# Pain # I Stand Before You # Too Much Talk # Blow By Blow # Mad Maggie...
(1994) - PAIN & Suffering (2007)
- The Hardest TownThe Hardest TownThe Hardest Town is the follow-up to 2006's And Then It Got Ugly by Rhino Bucket. It is their second album to feature Simon Wright as drummer...
(2009)