Neil Peart's Powerhouse Percussion; 3rd Straight Victory Drummies 
SAN JOSE, Calif., -- Neil Peart's lucky number may just be three. He can definitely play in three; he has been part of a highly successful trio, Rush; and, he has now garnered his third consecutive victory as “Drummer Of The Year” in this year's Drummies.
Additionally, he won “Best Progressive Drummer. Enter Music Publishing, publishers of hip, drum magazines worldwide, conducts The Drummies every year with voting open to anyone from February to May. This year 5,310 votes were cast in 41 drum/percussion categories ranging from “Best Drummer” to “Best Drum Advertisement”.
While Peart has successfully demonstrated his popularity in the last three Drummies, his margin of victory was less than in the last two years, according to Phil Hood, publisher and co-founder of DRUM! Magazine. Runner-up Travis Barker gave Peart a serious run and had been the most frequent winner (three victories) prior to Peart's popularity. Thus, Barker remains a very influential, popular drummer as well.
About the Voting
Peart's Popularity – A Rush of Publicity Online and Off
Peart's success, in part, results from his innovative, progressive approach to drumming which is a hit with drummers in all demographics. Yes, he has proven his strong popularity in DRUM!, which is evident from the recent cover story in DRUM!, that was based on emails sent in from the Peart fan population.
According to publisher Phil Hood, "Peart's success probably stems from the resurgence of Rush's popularity over the same time period that he has won the Drummies. There's no doubt that Rush's hyper drive back into mainstream success has propelled Peart to these victories,” he notes.
Additional Drummie Data and Surprises
As with all contests, this year's Drummies resulted in some intriguing data and surprise victories, such as:
The category receiving the largest number of votes was Drummer Of The Year (4,902)
The category receiving the least number of votes was Percussion Group.
Mainstream Pop Drummer: It's the first win for Bob Bryar of My Chemical Romance
Rising Star: Thomas Pridgen. He got his gig in the Mars Volta after they saw him playing on gospelchops.com.
Rising Star Percussion: Jocelyn Alvarez was mentored by Tito Puente
Percussionist of the Year: Sheila E. It's her first win in many years.
Drum Workshop's Collector X Series Shell Drums were the top drumming product of the year.
Jazz/Fusion: Steve Smith, who has spent more time in the jazz world than the rock world of late, wins. He's famed for his instructional DVDs covering the history of drumming in popular music.
In contrast to recent years, Enter Music Publishing decided to list in this announcement just the winners related to playing and performance. All winners and runners-up in the 41 categories can be viewed in print in the August Issue of DRUM! Magazine and online at http://www.drummagazine.com/features/post/drummies2009/. The list of winners is also included in DRUM!'s August 2009 issue, featuring Mike Portnoy on the cover. It's on sale as of July 10, 2009.
Abridged Drummies Winner List
Winners: Drummer Categories
Drummer Of The Year: Neil Peart
Rising Star: Thomas Pridgen
Progressive Rock Drummer: Neil Peart
Metal Drummer: Lars Ulrich
Jam Band Drummer: Carter Beauford
Funk Drummer: Chad Smith
Mainstream Pop Drummer: Bob Bryar
Alternative Rock Drummer: Chad Smith
Punk Drummer: Travis Barker
R&B/Blues Drummer: John Blackwell
Jazz/Fusion Drummer: Steve Smith
Country Drummer: Jim Riley
Drum Clinician: Todd Sucherman
Studio Drummer: Josh Freese
Live Performer: Mike Portnoy
Percussionists
Percussionist Of The Year: Sheila E.
Rising Star: Jocelyn Alvarez
Latin Percussionist: Giovanni Hidalgo
Jazz/Fusion Percussionist: Airto Moreira
Of course, Enter Music Publishing would like to congratulate all the winners and runners-up in this year's Drummies 2009 and thank all the drummers and fans who cast votes. Additionally, the company appreciates all of the drum/music industry web sites, which assisted in promoting the Drummmies voting and all other activities related to it.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (3)
at 08:20 on July 10th, 2009
This year's Drummies, once again, demonstrates the diversity of drummers who won in the different categories. Again, congratulations to all.
at 13:46 on July 12th, 2009
The news about Neil Peart winning for a third straight time is breaking on the web. Blabbermouth.net, a powerful music site and often referred to as the "CNN Of Hard Music" reported on the Drummies. Here's a link.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=123489
at 17:16 on July 16th, 2009
Drummers are often considered to be long-haired rock types. This stereo type denigrates some of the finest female percussionists that move the drumming arts forward as well. That's why it's so great that Sheila E won "Percussionist of the Year" in this year's Drummies. She definitely deserves it. In this economy, the drum industry needs to expand and embrace the fine female players out there. Congrats again to Sheila.