Mark "Bam-Bam" McConnell (August 27, 1961 – May 24, 2012) was an American rock and heavy metal musician, best known for his role from 1997 to 2005 as drummer with

Sebastian Bach Sebastian Philip Bierk (born April 3, 1968), known professionally as Sebastian Bach, is a Canadian-American singer who achieved mainstream success as the frontman of the hard rock band Skid Row from 1987 to 1996. He has acted on Broadway and h ...

, and later with

Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'', or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bl ...

and

Southern Rock Allstars The Southern Rock Allstars are a band that got its name from the history/lineage of its former members all of whom were connected with Southern rock. Its current lineup consists of former members of The Rossington Band and sidemen of Lynyrd Skyn ...

. Though almost exclusively a touring drummer, he was well known in the late 1980s and early 1990s metal scene.

Career

McConnell started his career with local bands in Florida, including the Luca-Gordon Band in 1987, and Madam X, replacing

Roxy Petrucci Roxanne Dora Petrucci (born March 17, 1962) is an American drummer best known for her work with the glam metal bands Madam X (band), Madam X and Vixen (band), Vixen. Biography Petrucci and her sister, Maxine Petrucci, first formed Madam X with v ...

. The vocalist with Madam X at that time was Canadian singer Sebastian Bach, who left in 1987 to join

Skid Row A skid row, also called skid road, is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to people who are poor or homeless, considered disre ...

. McConnell left Madam X the following year, and in 1989 he joined Carrera, and then Warp Drive, who released an album, ''Gimme Gimme'' the same year. In 1997, McConnell teamed up again with Sebastian Bach who was released from Skid Row and was now a solo artist. Aside from touring together for eight years, McConnell featured on Bach's first post-Skid Row album release, ''

Bring 'Em Bach Alive! ''Bring 'Em Bach Alive!'' is the debut solo album by heavy metal singer Sebastian Bach released in November 1999, his first after his departure from Skid Row. It is mainly a live album composed of Skid Row songs of Bach's era; it also includes f ...

'' in 2001, and the live DVD, '' Forever Wild'' in 2004. In 2006, McConnell joined

Southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...

veterans

, although he left the following year. He subsequently teamed up with Southern Rock Allstars, originally formed by the first Blackfoot drummer, Jakson "Thunderfoot" Spires. He also played with a large number of other groups, including the Comatones, Cryptonaut, Future Urban Zoo, and Native Sun. He also formed a band called Sledgehammer with guitarist Dave Linsk from

Overkill Overkill may refer to: * Overkill (term), the use of excessive force or action to achieve a goal * Surplus killing, when a predator kills more prey than it can eat * Overexploitation, depletion of a natural resource through overharvesting ** Over ...

, and played on W.A.S.P.'s European tour. In late May 2012, McConnell fell ill with liver and kidney failure, which also caused some damage to his brain. He died on May 24, 2012, at age 50. Tributes paid to McConnell included a message from

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

guitarist

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash th ...

, who wrote on Twitter: "''RIP Mark ‘Bam Bam’ McConnell. Tragic loss. My heart goes out to his family, friends & bandmates.''"

Discography

*Warp Drive – ''Gimme Gimme'' (1989) *

– ''

'' (2001) *Sebastian Bach – '' Forever Wild'' (2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McConnell, Mark American heavy metal drummers Drummers from Florida 1961 births 2012 deaths Blackfoot (band) members Madam X (band) members American male drummers