John Blackwell

John Blackwell

John Blackwell Jr. (September 9, 1973 – July 4, 2017) was an American contemporary R&B, funk, jazz, fusion, and pop drummer, best known for his work with Prince.^[1] Later, he was a member of D’Angelo‘s backing band, The Vanguard.

Blackwell was born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina, and started playing drums at age 3. He learned from his father, John Sr., a drummer himself, who played with Mary Wells, King Curtis, Joe Simon, J.J. Jackson, The Drifters, The Spinners, and others.^[2] Blackwell stated that he experienced synesthesia since he was a child, seeing colors for musical notes, and was identified as having perfect pitch while in high school.^[3]

Source – Wikipedia