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Kenny Aronoff is a legendary drummer, renowned inspirational speaker and top-selling author. Gabe Dalporto digs into how Aronoff’s perseverance and passion forged his success.
In Episode 6 of Inside the Noise, Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto speaks with Kenny Aronoff—one of the top drummers of all time, who has played with everyone (and we mean “everyone”) from The Rolling Stones to Beyoncé—about how being a team player galvanized his career.
“Two days into making a record with John Cougar, he fired me,” says Aronoff. “I said, ‘No way am I going home. I’m going to watch these session drummers play my parts, and I’m going to learn and get better.’ And I discovered the north star of what it means to drum on a record—it’s getting the song to be a number one hit single. Every musician in the studio has to help make that happen. I had to change from thinking it’s about me, to being a team player. Nobody tells you this stuff, but I suddenly realized my purpose is to be the best drummer for the music—to serve the song, the band, the producer and everybody else. I had to leave my ego out of it. I completely revamped my approach to playing the drums, and that was the beginning of my career.”
Catch the full conversation and other episodes of Inside the Noise with Gabe Dalporto on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any of your favorite major platforms. When you subscribe, you’ll get new episodes every Tuesday at 3 p.m. PT.