Ralph Molina (born June 22, 1943) is a Puerto Rico-born American musician, best known as the drummer for

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

's backing band

Crazy Horse Crazy Horse ( , ; – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota people, Lakota war leader of the Oglala band. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by White Americans, White American settlers on Nativ ...

. Born in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, Molina has been a member of Crazy Horse since they were formed in 1962 as Danny & the Memories. He has remained throughout the band's many personnel changes, and has performed on all releases by the band, with and without Young. Molina's style of drumming is characterized by simple but steady beats and fills. Molina's musical beginnings were in local doo-wop groups, singing harmonies with friends in New York, and then in Florida, where he graduated from high school. He later moved to California to sing with his cousin Lou's group, which led to other musical opportunities. Molina joined

Danny Whitten Danny Ray Whitten (May 8, 1943 – November 18, 1972) was an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with Neil Young's backing band Crazy Horse (band), Crazy Horse, and for the song "I Don't Want to Talk About It", a hit for Ro ...

, Billy Talbot, and Ben Rocco in the doo-wop group Danny and the Memories, which in the 60s morphed into a folk-rock act called The Psyrcle, later known as The Rockets. As the decade came to a close, the group renamed themselves Crazy Horse after playing with Neil Young. Although the band lineup has changed over the years, Molina and Talbot have remained as core members of Crazy Horse, recording over 30 albums. Molina released his first solo album, ''Love & Inspiration'' in March 2019.

References

External links

''Memorable Music Hall of Fame''
*ralphmolina.bandcamp.com American rock drummers Crazy Horse (band) members Living people 1943 births 20th-century American drummers American male drummers {{US-music-bio-stub