About Brooks

 

Brooks Wackerman (born February 15, 1977) is an American musician and songwriter. He is currently the drummer for the American heavy metal bands Avenged Sevenfold and Mass Mental. He is a former drummer for Bad ReligionSuicidal TendenciesInfectious Grooves and Tenacious D. He is the younger brother of Chad Wackerman, a session musician and former drummer for Allan Holdsworth and Frank Zappa.

Wackerman started his musical career as a teen with a group called Bad4Good in 1991. Under Steve Vai's guidance, the band released one album in 1992 called Refugee, produced by Vai himself. However, the band disbanded shortly after.

Infectious Grooves (1993–2000)

From 1993 to 2000, Wackerman was a member of Infectious Grooves, playing drums on the albums Groove Family Cyco in 1994 and Mas Borracho in 2000 as well as touring with the band. Shortly after his departure, he performed drums for the 2000 Vandals' album Look What I Almost Stepped In....

Suicidal Tendencies (1996–2001)

Wackerman was member of Suicidal Tendencies from 1996 to 2001, playing drums on Six the Hard Way in 1998, Freedumb in 1999, and Free Your Soul and Save My Mind in 2000. He left the band to join Bad Religion in 2001.

Bad Religion (2001–2015)

In 2001, he became the drummer for Bad Religion by replacing Bobby Schayer, who left the band due to a shoulder injury. He appeared on five albums with them (The Process of Belief, The Empire Strikes First, New Maps of Hell, The Dissent of Man and True North) as well as their 2013 EP Christmas Songs. On October 27, 2015, Brooks left Bad Religion after deciding it was time to pursue another path.[1] At the time of his departure, Wackerman was Bad Religion's all-time longest standing drummer, surpassing Bobby Schayer, who was in the band for ten years. He was also the youngest member of the band, with all of the other members being at least ten years his senior. Wackerman was replaced by Jamie Miller.

Tenacious D (2006–15)

In 2006, for The Pick of Destiny tour, Wackerman was selected to feature as the drummer for Tenacious D due to his previous work on the Vandals' Look What I Almost Stepped In... album, which both Jack Black and Kyle Gass cameo on. He would go on to play for Tenacious D at various festivals as well as support act and benefit concerts throughout 2008 to 2011. in 2012, Wackerman played with Tenacious D again on their Rize of the Fenix tour where he got the nickname "Thunderskin" from Jack Black for comical remark, making appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. They also performed at the 2012 Rock am Ring Festival. Wackerman also appeared in the music videos for their songs "Roadie" and "Rize of the Fenix". He would perform on their 2012 EP Tenacious D Jazz and their 2015 live album Tenacious D Live.

Avenged Sevenfold (2015–present)


Other projects


Wackerman formerly fronted Kidneys alongside fellow Tenacious D band member John Spiker. Initially, his brother, John Wackerman played with Kidneys, but he would later be replaced by Todd Hennig (Death By Stereo). A full-length self-titled album was released in 2007, and another album in 2012, entitled Hold Your Fire, is available for digital download. The band split ways in 2012.

Discography

With Avenged Sevenfold

With Mass Mental

With Bad Religion

With Tenacious D

With Suicidal Tendencies

With Infectious Grooves

Other