Les Warner (also known as Lez Warner) is a British born musician and producer, primarily a drummer best known for his work with

The Cult The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury' ...

. On the reverse of the ''

Electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

'' album, he is in the far right picture. He currently resides in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

and performs at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino as part of the Celtic Rockers
/span>.Celtic Rockers @ New York-New York
/ref> Les is currently playing drums with Godmother of Soul, a Las Vegas-based band featuring Tomi Rae Brown (widow of singer,

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the hono ...

), bassist

Kelly Garni Kelly Garni is an American hard rock musician and photographer, best known as a founding member of the band Quiet Riot. He appears on the band's 1978 self-titled debut album, as well as their second album, ''Quiet Riot II'' the same year. Biog ...

(founding member of

Quiet Riot Quiet Riot is an American heavy metal band founded in Los Angeles in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Kelly Garni. The original lineup featured Rhoads and Garni with lead vocalist Kevin DuBrow and drummer Drew Forsyth, though th ...

), guitarist Raven Storm, and Jason Edwards on keyboards. Les also currently plays bass for the Las Vegas- based all-star tribute band, Petty and the Heartshakers.

Early years

Born and raised in the Fulham area of London, Warner's dream was to follow in the footsteps of

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or som ...

's Brian Downey. He bought his first drum kit at age 13, and first performed live in a high school production of ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. ...

''. He continued playing drums into the 1970s, playing with several bands at a time, and became a drum legend of London's club scene. When punk rock exploded in 1976, his steamhammer style—described as

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...

's handiwork and

John Bonham John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Led Zeppelin. Esteemed for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove ...

's pedal power—was perfect for punk and versatile enough for other musical styles, and Warner did sessions with everyone from

Sham 69 Sham 69 are an English punk rock band that formed in Hersham in Surrey in 1975. They were one of the most successful punk bands in the United Kingdom, achieving five top 20 singles, including " If the Kids Are United" and " Hurry Up Harry". T ...

, Here and Now,

Johnny Thunders John Anthony Genzale (July 15, 1952 – April 23, 1991), known professionally as Johnny Thunders, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of the New York Dolls. He later played wit ...

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and Julian Lennon.

The Cult

In 1985,

were looking for a new drummer. After auditioning 100 young hopefuls and experienced veterans, they called Les, and he became the drummer for the Cult on their ''

'' album (after performing on The Cult's abandoned "Peace" record) and toured the world in support of both the ''

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

'' and ''Electric'' albums, appearing on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

'', '' Joan Rivers Show'', ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' and a host of other television shows around the globe. After finishing The Cult's tour in December 1987, Warner was fired from The Cult in 1988, and later pursued his own projects and spent time in Africa playing and learning native rhythms, fusing them with his own style, and indulging his photography habit.

Post Cult

Back in London, Warner formed a band called

The Hellfire Club Hellfire Club was a name for several exclusive clubs for high-society rakes established in Britain and Ireland in the 18th century. The name most commonly refers to Francis Dashwood's Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe. Such clubs, r ...

with lifelong friend Paul Raven,

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (bass). Their first album, '' Killing Joke'', was released ...

and Prong bassist. In 1991, Warner relocated to New York City and announced his arrival with a guest appearance during a " Spinal Tap" performance at the Beacon Theatre. He went on to jam with

Steve Stevens Steve Stevens (born Steven Bruce Schneider; May 5, 1959) is an American guitarist. He is best known as Billy Idol's guitarist and songwriting collaborator, and for his lead guitar work on the theme to ''Top Gun'' – " Top Gun Anthem" – for ...

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, members of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's band and others. In New York, Warner expanded his repertoire to commercial soundtracks, drumming on the Sega Genesis ''

Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The development of the first game was originally based on an idea that Ed Boon and John Tobias had of making a ...

'' TV theme, a

Miller Lite Miller Lite is a 4.2% ABV light American lager beer sold by Molson Coors (previously MillerCoors) of Chicago, Illinois. The company also produces Miller Genuine Draft and Miller High Life. Miller Lite competes mainly with Anheuser-Busch' ...

TV and radio campaign, and numerous other commercials. From 1995 to 1996 he was a member of Harry Slash & The Slashtones and the short-lived New York band The Horsemen. During the late '90s, Warner found himself maintaining dual-residency in both the London and New York music scenes as a session drummer. He continued his contributions to Ten Wings Music through his work with Motorbaby, and began working with up-and-coming New York rock band Queen V on Skyhigh Records. In early 2002, Warner went on to expand his musical horizons when he joined the traditional Irish group, The McCabes. The McCabes breed of blistering Irish jibs and reels allowed Warner to experiment with new dimensions of sound and style, broadening his array of already accomplished and varied chops. The band performed on the popular Irish circuit of summer festivals, including a performance at

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

– the same stage of the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

record-breaking performance in 1965. Warner's performance with The McCabes was captured on their limited edition live release, The McCabes at Paddy Reilly's. With the McCabes at Shea Stadium The McCabes - Paddy Reilly's Warner continues to work in L.A., New York, and London hammering down tracks for various recording artists. He has also established a studio near his home in Las Vegas, creating a comfortable recording environment for the performers in his production company, US-UK Music West Coast. His latest work can be found on Downtown Recording's production of the new Nickie Seven album. As of early September, 2012, Godmother of Soul was finishing up a promotional video and was beginning to book shows. GMOS plays a wide variety of high-powered rock and soul songs including an entire set of Janis Joplin, and several James Brown classics, along with original material.

References

External links

Lez Warner Interview With Michael Stephens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warner, Les English rock drummers Living people The Cult members Year of birth missing (living people)