Prince’s Drummer John Blackwell Has Died

Hot Press has learned with great sadness of the death of John Blackwell at the age of just 43. He was widely regarded as one of the finest drummers in contemporary music, having played with Prince, P. Diddy, Justin Timberlake, Patti Labelle and many more.

Blackwell came to Dublin for The Music Show, promoted by Hot Press, in 2010 and delivered an extraordinary masterclass in drumming. He also proved himself to be a genuinely nice, decent, positive individual, who loved sharing his skills and his tips with drummers.

“It isn’t often that you can stand back and listen to a drummer doing a show for a whole hour and feel completely immersed – and satisfied at the end,” Hot Press editor Niall Stokes said. “But that was our experience with John. I remember staying for his entire set, despite the fact that there were lots of other things to deal with at the time. He was a great showman. But more than anything else he was a rhythmic genius, and a master of sound.

"There was a wonderful musical quality to everything he did that day. But he was powerful too, so that what he delivered for the audience was a percussive tour-de-force. I feel privileged to have met him, and to have seen him in action, in vivid close-up.”

His father, also John Blackwell, was a drummer, who played with a variety of soul and pop artists, including Mary Wells, The Drifters, The Spinners and King Curtis. Originally from Columbia in South Carolina, the younger Blackwell was well known for having experienced synesthesia when he was a child, a condition which allows an individual to see colours for musical notes. He was also known to have perfect pitch.

In all, he spent twelve years with Prince. At The Music Show he recounted with a mixture of pride and humility the story of the moment when the Purple One approached him to play drums in his band.

In June, Blackwell announced that he had lost the use of his left arm and leg, and that he had been diagnosed with a brain tumour. Sadly the worst followed far too soon, and his wife Yaritza announced the news on Instagram...

“My husband incredible drummer John Blackwell Jr. passed the way peacefully in my company today. Thanks God for his life and thanks everyone for their support. Yaritza.”

May he rest in peace.