Tony Thompson, the drummer who powered hits by the Power Station, Chic, and Diana Ross, and who almost joined Led Zeppelin, died in Encino, California, on Wednesday (November 12), just three days shy of his 49th birthday. Thompson had battled renal cell cancer and had undergone surgery earlier this year in an effort to combat the disease. He is survived by his wife Patrice and their two children.
Like many musicians, Thompson died without health insurance, and his family is stuck with huge medical bills. Anyone wishing to make a tax-deductible donation can do so at tonythompsonfund.com, or at nilerodgers.com.
A benefit concert will be held on December 16 at the Hard Rock Cafe in Los Angeles. The lineup should be announced soon.
Thompson was born in New York City on November 15, 1954. He first got noticed while playing with LaBelle in the mid-70's, but it was with Chic that Thompson had his first major success, including Top Five albums and a Number One hit with "Le Freak" in 1978. Chic leader Nile Rodgers told LAUNCH that he and Bernard Edwards formed the band with Thompson for three main reasons: "His power--gotta be the loudest drummer I've ever worked with or heard in my life; his technical facility, which has gotta be up there with among the best of 'em; and his great sense of humor. I think that Bernard and I hired him for all three of those qualities."
Following his success with Chic, Thompson developed a reputation as an ace session drummer. He got the call to work with Diana Ross on 1980's Diana, David Bowie on 1983's Let's Dance, Madonna on 1984's Like A Virgin, and Mick Jagger on 1985's She's The Boss, among many others.
He also joined Robert Palmer and Duran Duran's John and Andy Taylor in forming the Power Station, which had Top 10 hits in 1985 with "Some Like It Hot" and a cover of T. Rex's "Get It On (Bang A Gong)." Several years ago, Thompson told LAUNCH how he got involved in the Power Station. "We met in the bathroom in Sydney, Australia," Thompson said. "John Taylor came over and said he was a fan of my work, and we just said, 'Let's work together, you know, let's do something.' And I thought, you know, once I left Australia, and he went off to Europe, that I'd never hear from him again. Well, I went to the south of France, and I got this phone call, and John drove down and said, 'Yeah, I'm really still interested in this doing something together.'"
Thompson got the call of a lifetime when he was asked to play with Led Zeppelin at Live Aid in 1985. Following that one-off gig, they started recording some new material, but the sessions ended after Thompson was in a serious car accident, and the music has never been released.
Other people Thompson played with included Palmer on 1985's Riptide, Rod Stewart on 1988's Out of Order, Blondie leader Debbie Harry on her 1981 solo album Kookoo, and Duran Duran on 1995's Thank You.
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http://launch.yahoo.com/read/news.asp?contentID=215507R.I.P. I never knew he play with Led Zeppelin and after they record new material, but the sessions ended after Thompson was in a serious car accident, and the music has never been released. I wonder if that music will ever be released.
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