Mark Scott Travis (born September 6, 1961) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the English heavy metal band

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

, the Irish rock band

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wr ...

, and the supergroup Elegant Weapons. He was also a longtime member of the American heavy metal band Racer X during their initial run and then reformation up until their 2009 breakup. As a member of Judas Priest, he was inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

in 2022.

Biography

Born in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, Travis was a well-known drummer in the local music scene of a region known as

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

during the early 1980s. Playing with bands in clubs throughout Norfolk,

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...

, and Newport News. Travis moved to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in the early to mid-1980s and performed in various local bands, such as Hawk, later moving on to perform for the critically acclaimed band Racer X, and very briefly performed in Saints Or Sinners, which later changed their name to

The Scream ''The Scream'' is an art composition created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The Norwegian name of the piece is ('Screaming, Scream'), and the German title under which it was first exhibited is ' ('The Scream of Nature'). The agonize ...

, and also featured Travis's Racer X bandmates Bruce Bouillet and Juan Alderete. His big career move came about late in the decade after

's longtime drummer

Dave Holland Dave Holland or David Holland may refer to: *Dave Holland (bassist) David Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English double bassist, bass guitarist, cellist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has ...

left the band in 1989, citing personal reasons. Travis had always wanted to be the drummer of Judas Priest. As a teenager, he had often thought about setting up his drum kit in the parking lot at the Hampton Coliseum in hopes that the band would notice him as they went past with their tour bus. He finally decided to wait at the back of the arena to hand the band a tape of his playing. Holland was still the band's drummer at the time, so nothing ever came out of the encounter. When Holland did leave Judas Priest in 1989, vocalist Jeff Martin heard about it through his friendship with

Rob Halford Robert John Arthur Halford (born 25 August 1951) is an English heavy metal singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist of Judas Priest, which was formed in 1969 and has received accolades such as the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Metal Perform ...

. Martin called up Travis one day and said, "Guess who needs a drummer." Travis auditioned for the vacant position and became their new member, thus becoming the first non-Briton to perform for the band. He has been with the band ever since and also handles drum duties for Racer X as well. Travis also performed drums in Halford's band

Fight Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

from 1992 to 1995, but to date, he is best known for his work with Judas Priest, for which he has been widely acclaimed ever since his debut on the 1990 album ''

Painkiller An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic, antalgic, pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used for pain management. Analgesics are conceptually distinct from anesthetics, which temporarily reduce, and in s ...

''. Travis was largely responsible for hiring Tim 'Ripper' Owens as Halford's replacement in Judas Priest in 1996. Owens would remain in the band until the 2003 reunion with Halford. Travis takes credit as the co-writer for the song "Cyberface", which appears on Judas Priest's 2001 album ''

Demolition Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which inv ...

'', making it his first and only contribution in the band. In April 2016, Travis joined the reformed line-up of

for reunion shows and has remained in the band as their official member. He is commonly mistaken to be left-handed. In reality, he is

ambidextrous Ambidexterity is the ability to use both the right and left hand equally well. When referring to objects, the term indicates that the object is equally suitable for right-handed and left-handed people. When referring to humans, it indicates that ...

, and plays with an open style. He is 6'6" tall.

Equipment

Travis always used Tama Drums until 2008. On the first leg of the Judas Priest " Nostradamus Tour" he played a

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

kit and then switched to a DW kit for the second leg. He was also seen using a DW kit at the

NAMM Show The NAMM Show is an annual trade show in the United States organized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), which describes it as "the industry’s largest stage, uniting the global music, sound and entertainment technology commun ...

with his band Racer X. His DW setup is: two 23"x24" bass drums, 14"x6.5" snare,8"x8" 10"x9" 12"x9" and 14"x10" rack toms and 16"x14" and 18"x16" floor toms. Travis has played

Paiste Paiste (English pronunciation: , ) is a Switzerland, Swiss musical instrument manufacturing company. It is the world's third largest manufacturer of cymbals, gongs, and metal percussion. is an Estonian language, Estonian and Finnish language, ...

cymbals since May 1987. He also plays Evans drum heads and uses Vater drumsticks.

Discography

Racer X

*'' Second Heat'' (1987) *'' Extreme Volume Live'' (1988) *'' Extreme Volume II Live'' (1992) *'' Technical Difficulties'' (1999) *'' Superheroes'' (2000) *'' Getting Heavier'' (2002)

Judas Priest

*''

'' (1990) *'' Jugulator'' (1997) *'' '98 Live Meltdown'' (1998) *''

'' (2001) *'' Live in London'' (2003) *'' Angel of Retribution'' (2005) *''

Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinisation of names, Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French Astrology, astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed Oracle, seer, who is best known for his book ''Les Prophéti ...

'' (2008) *'' A Touch of Evil: Live'' (2009) *'' Redeemer of Souls'' (2014) *''

Battle Cry A battle cry or war cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same combatant group. Battle cries are not necessarily articulate (e.g. "Eulaliaaaa!", "Alala"..), although they often aim to invoke patriotic or religio ...

'' (2016) *''

Firepower Firepower is the military capability to direct force at an enemy. It involves the whole range of potential weapons. The concept is generally taught as one of the three key principles of modern warfare wherein the enemy forces are destroyed or ...

'' (2018) *'' Invincible Shield'' (2024)

Fight

*'' War of Words'' (1993) *''

Mutations In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, mitosi ...

'' (1994) *'' A Small Deadly Space'' (1995)

Hawk

*'' Let the Metal Live'' (2009)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Travis, Scott 1961 births Living people American heavy metal drummers American rock drummers Judas Priest members Racer X (band) members The Scream (band) members Musicians from Norfolk, Virginia American expatriates in the United Kingdom 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Animetal USA members Drummers from Virginia