Charlie Adams (born May 8, 1954) is an American drummer, best known for playing in

Yanni Yiannis Chryssomallis (; born November 14, 1954), known professionally as Yanni ( ), is a Greek composer, keyboardist, pianist, and music producer. Yanni continues to use the musical shorthand that he developed as a child, blending jazz, clas ...

's touring band, after having played with Yanni in the early 1980s rock band

Chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (Family (biology), family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this Family (biology), family are best known for ...

. Adams was born in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County, Illinois, Will County. It had a population of ...

Music career

Early life

Adams was born and raised in Joliet, Illinois. Prior to joining Chameleon, he taught drums to local students, including future

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drummer

Jimmy Chamberlin James Joseph Chamberlin (born June 10, 1964) is an American drummer and record producer. Described as "one of the most powerful drummers in rock," he is best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. Following the ...

Chameleon

Band members of regional rock band

included Adams on drums, vocals, and percussion;

on keyboards and synthesizers;

Dugan McNeill Dugan or Duggan () is an Irish surname derived from Ó Dubhagáinn. History A family of the name Dugan had its territory near the modern town of Fermoy in north Cork, and were originally the ruling family of the Fir Maighe tribal group which ...

on lead vocals and bass guitars; Johnny Donaldson on all guitars; and Mark Anthony on lead vocals and keyboards. Their albums included ''Chameleon'', ''Techno-color'', ''Hologram Sky'', and ''Balance''. The group was noted for Adams' revolving gyroscope drum kit, who played his rapidly spinning drums before

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's similar arrangement.

Yanni

In 1987,

formed his first touring band to promote his album '' Out of Silence'', as well as selections from ''

Keys to Imagination ''Keys to Imagination'' is the second studio album by Greek keyboardist and composer Yanni, released on the Private Music label in 1986. Background & production In an interview with '' Cymbiosis'', Yanni said that he often spent 12–15 hours a ...

''. This early band included Yanni,

John Tesh John Frank Tesh Jr. (born July 9, 1952) is an American musician and radio and television presenter. He wrote the '' NBA on NBC'' basketball theme " Roundball Rock", and hosts the ''Intelligence for Your Life'' radio show. In addition, since 20 ...

and Joyce Imbesi on keyboards, and Adams on drums. He is also featured in both ''

Live at the Acropolis ''Live at the Acropolis'' is the first live album and concert film by the Greek keyboardist, composer, and producer Yanni, released on March 1, 1994, on Private Music. It was recorded at the Herodes Atticus Theatre in Athens, Greece during his ...

'' released in 1994 and '' Live at Royal Albert Hall'' released in 1995. Adams did not join the Tribute concert at the Taj Mahal and Forbidden City as he had to help raise his son with autism issues and thus was replaced by rock/jazz drummer Joel Taylor for the entire tour. After Yanni's hiatus following Tribute, Adams returned in 2001. Adams reunited again with Yanni for the 2003/2004 ''

Ethnicity An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they Collective consciousness, collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, ...

'' concert tour.

Discography

Adams is credited as drummer or percussionist in the following albums, produced by

unless otherwise noted.

Influences

Adams has indicated his musical influences to include Buddy Rich, the Beatles, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.

References

External links

* *
Charlie Adams
at Drummer World.com
Chameleon at MusicMight.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Charlie American male drummers American percussionists Musicians from Joliet, Illinois Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee Living people 1954 births 20th-century American drummers 21st-century American drummers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Drummers from Tennessee Drummers from Illinois