John Anthony Panozzo (September 20, 1948 – July 16, 1996) was an American

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

best known for his work with rock band

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; ; lit. "Shuddering"), also called the River Styx, is a goddess and one of the rivers of the Greek Underworld. Her parents were the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, and she was the wife of the Titan Pallas and the moth ...

Early life

Panozzo was born to Tranquinino Panozzo and Elizabeth Lofrano Panozzo, both of whom were of Italian descent, and grew up in the Roseland neighborhood, the south side of

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, with his

fraternal twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

brother,

Chuck Chuck () is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV produce ...

(born 20 minutes apart). Chuck and John also have an older sister, Emily. At age 7, the twins took musical lessons from their uncle in which John took an interest in drums and percussion. They attended Catholic school and eventually they were part of a three-piece band in which John played drums and Chuck played guitar. They would play weddings at age 12 and were paid $15 apiece.

Styx

In 1961, John, Chuck, and their neighbor,

Dennis DeYoung Dennis DeYoung (born February 18, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and keyboardist. He was a founding member of the rock band Styx and served as its primary lead vocalist and keyboardist from 1972 until 1999. DeYoung was the band's most ...

, formed a band called The Tradewinds in which John played drums, Chuck played guitar, and Dennis played the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

and sang. They played local gigs at bars and began gaining popularity as a garage band on the city's South Side. In 1968, Chuck switched to

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and they added guitarists/vocalists James "J.Y." Young and John Curulewski, changing their name to TW4 (shortened from "Trade Winds Four"). The band signed to Wooden Nickel Records and changed their name to

. The band's only number one in the US was " Babe", released in 1979. Other successful songs by Styx include " Mr. Roboto", " Show Me the Way", " The Best of Times", " Don't Let It End", "

Lady ''Lady'' is a term for a woman who behaves in a polite way. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the female counterpart of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. "Lady" is al ...

", and " Come Sail Away". In 1993, Panozzo played drums on two tracks for guitarist/vocalist James Young's solo album ''Out on a Day Pass''.

Death

He died of

gastrointestinal The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The tract is the largest of the body's systems, after the cardiovascular system. ...

hemorrhaging and cirrhosis in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

on July 16, 1996.

Discography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Panozzo, John 1948 births 1996 deaths American rock drummers Drummers from Chicago Styx (band) members American twins American people of Italian descent Deaths from cirrhosis Deaths from gastrointestinal hemorrhage Alcohol-related deaths in Illinois American rock percussionists 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians