Instruments Drums | Occupation(s) Musician Years active 1979 - present | |
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Associated acts Michael Jackson, The Jacksons, Madonna, Janet Jackson, George Michael, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, Julian Lennon, The Eagles Similar Patrick Leonard, Chris Thomas, Bill Bottrell, Michael Jackson, Marlon Jackson | ||
Tuning drums with jonathan moffett drummer for michael jackson
Jonathan "Sugarfoot" Moffett (born November 17, 1954) is an American drummer, songwriter and producer from New Orleans. Since 1979, he has collaborated with the Jackson family, particularly Michael Jackson, over the course of 30 years. Later, he performed with other notable musicians, such as Madonna, George Michael, Elton John, Lionel Richie and many other artists.
Contents
- Tuning drums with jonathan moffett drummer for michael jackson
- Early life
- Career
- Michael Jackson
- References
Early life
Jonathan Moffett was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the third son of a large musical family of siblings. His brothers played the guitar and the bass guitar, while Jonathan was intrigued by drumming. He was influenced by Buddy Rich, Louis Bellson, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, James Brown and Stevie Wonder. When he was eight he started playing at school dances, talent shows and local house parties. At ten, he played in nightclubs with his brothers’ band. His career took on from there. From 12 to 23 he played in a number of local bands. During this time he got his nickname Sugarfoot because of his incredibly fast-paced foot pedaling technique on the bass drum. When he was 24 he moved to Los Angeles. He auditioned for The Jacksons in 1979. They hired him immediately after he performed Shake Your Body, a song with a three part overdub, which means it has three drum parts layered on top of one another with three separate passes of recorded individual drums parts. This is usually very difficult to perform live.
Career
His drumming and style led him to perform on 23 world tours. His first major tour was the Destiny Tour with The Jacksons. He has also been on the Off the Wall Tour with Michael Jackson. Then he performed on the Triumph Tour and Victory Tour where he met Madonna backstage who asked him to drum for her upcoming Virgin Tour. Prince complimented Moffett after many shows with The Jacksons and various artists he played for. He'd nod his head, smile and he'd say, “That was bad, you're bad”. Moffett also worked with Madonna on her Who's That Girl Tour and Blond Ambition Tour.
Over the years, he has worked with: Michael Jackson, The Jacksons, Madonna, Prince (recorded on the same tracks with Madonna), Janet Jackson, George Michael, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, The Eagles, Julian Lennon, Diana Ross, Elton John, Peter Cetera, Patty Austin, Cameo, Richard Marx and many others. He was featured in Madonna: Truth or Dare and Michael Jackson's This Is It as well as many other music films and documentaries.
Michael Jackson
He was Michael Jackson's number one drummer of choice and they collaborated over the course of 30 years. Aside from working with Michael, he was friends with him. Moffett was suppose to play in Jackson's This Is It tour but that never happened as Jackson died before the tour. He was with him the day before the singer died.