Charlie Adams (drummer)

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For other uses, see Charles Adams (disambiguation).
Charlie Adams
Background information
Born (1954-05-08) May 8, 1954 (age 69)
Joliet, Illinois, United States
Instrument(s)Drums
Percussion
Drum engineer
Years active1975–present
Formerly ofChameleon

Charlie Adams (born May 8, 1954) is an American drummer, best known for playing in Yanni's touring band, after having played with Yanni in the early 1980s rock band Chameleon. Adams was born in Joliet, Illinois.[1]

Music career[edit]

Chameleon[edit]

Band members of regional rock band Chameleon[2] included Adams on drums, vocals, and percussion; Yanni on keyboards and synthesizers; Dugan McNeill on lead vocals and bass guitars; Johnny Donaldson on all guitars; and Mark Anthony on lead vocals and keyboards.[3] Their albums included Chameleon, Techno-color, Hologram Sky, and Balance.[3] The group was noted for Adams' revolving gyroscope drum kit, who played his rapidly spinning drums before Mötley Crüe's Tommy Lee's similar arrangement.[2]

Yanni[edit]

In 1987, Yanni formed his first touring band to promote his album Out of Silence, as well as selections from Keys to Imagination. This early band included Yanni, John Tesh and Joyce Imbesi on keyboards, and Adams on drums.[4] He is also featured in both Live at the Acropolis released in 1994 and Live at Royal Albert Hall released in 1995.[5]

Adams did not join the Tribute concert at the Taj Mahal and Forbidden City as he had to help raise his son with autism issues and thus was replaced by rock/jazz drummer Joel Taylor for the entire tour. After Yanni's hiatus following Tribute, Adams returned in 2001.

Adams reunited again with Yanni for the 2003/2004 Ethnicity concert tour.[6]

Discography[edit]

Adams is credited[7] as drummer or percussionist in the following albums, produced by Yanni unless otherwise noted.

Year Tour / Album[7] Billboard
New Age
(peak)[8][9] 		Billboard
200
(peak)[8][9] 		Notes[7]
1987 Out of Silence
1988 Chameleon Days
1988 A Thousand Summers John Tesh
1989 Niki Nana 2
1992 Yanni Gift Set (Reflections of Passion/In Celebration of Life)
1992 Romantic Moments
1992 Dare to Dream 2 32 Grammy-nominated (New Age)[10]
1994 Live at the Acropolis 1 5 Sept. 1993 concerts at the Acropolis of Athens;
second best selling music video of all time[11]
1999 Love Songs
2006 Yanni Live! The Concert Event 1 84 2004 concert;
No. 4 selling New Age album of both 2006 and 2007[12]
Peaked at No. 6 Billboard Top Independent Album (2006)[8]
2010 Love Songs/Reflections of Passion

Influences[edit]

Adams has indicated his musical influences to include Buddy Rich, the Beatles, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.[13]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Bio at the City of Joliet website". cityofjoliet.com. Archived from the original on 2018-08-14. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  2. ^ a b Lounges, Tom (January 28, 2016). "Global superstar Yanni's Region rock past". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Archived from the original on May 11, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Chameleon". geocities.com. Archived from the original on 2009-10-24. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  4. ^ Yanni; Rensin, David (2002). Yanni in Words. Miramax Books. p. 123. ISBN 1-4013-5194-8.
  5. ^ "Live at the Acropolis - Yanni". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  6. ^ Yanni Newsletter: Fall 2003; volume 8 number 2. Yanni.com. 2003.
  7. ^ a b c "Charlie Adams / Credits". Allmusic.com. May 11, 2016. Archived from the original on May 11, 2016.
  8. ^ a b c Yanni / Billboard albums (WebCite archives of 2012-04-29 and 2012-06-20), Allmusic's listing of Billboard's album data, sorted by peak.
  9. ^ a b "Billboard Legacy | Billboard 200 Albums of the Year...", Billboard, (WebCite archives on 2014-05-29 of first and second[dead link] pages for Yanni).
  10. ^ Bekheet, Diaa, "Yanni’s North America Tour, Truth of Touch" (WebCite archive), Voice of America News, Jazz Beat, January 23, 2012.
  11. ^ Klangboonkrong, Manta, "On a high with Yanni" (WebCite archive), The Nation (Thailand), October 13, 2011.
  12. ^ Links to Billboard's "Best of (year) / New Age Albums" for 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
  13. ^ Barron, Jeff (May 6, 2016). "Yanni drummer featured at workshop". Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021.

External links[edit]

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