# Metal Drummer Birthdays — MetalForge

Birth dates of professional metal drummers featured on MetalForge.

Source: https://metalforge.io/birthdays

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## Birthday Table (calendar order)

| Drummer | Band | Birth Date | Birth Place |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dirk Verbeuren | Soilwork / Megadeth | January 8, 1975 | Lommel, Belgium |
| Raymond Herrera | Fear Factory | January 18, 1972 | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Derek Roddy | Nile / Hate Eternal | January 28, 1972 | Columbia, South Carolina, USA |
| Richard Christy | Death / Iced Earth | February 1, 1974 | Fort Scott, Kansas, USA |
| Chris Turner | Oceans Ate Alaska | February 4, 1992 | Birmingham, UK |
| Hellhammer | Mayhem / Dimmu Borgir | February 6, 1971 | Oslo, Norway |
| Matt Halpern | Periphery | February 14, 1984 | Baltimore, Maryland, USA |
| Dave Lombardo | Slayer | February 16, 1965 | Havana, Cuba |
| Tim Yeung | Vital Remains / Hate Eternal | February 21, 1975 | Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Paul Bostaph | Slayer | March 4, 1964 | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Vinnie Paul † | Pantera / Hellyeah | March 11, 1964 | Arlington, Texas, USA |
| Kevin Talley | Suffocation / Six Feet Under | March 13, 1977 | Springfield, Virginia, USA |
| Brann Dailor | Mastodon | March 19, 1975 | Rochester, New York, USA |
| John Otto | Limp Bizkit | March 22, 1977 | Jacksonville, Florida, USA |
| Inferno | Behemoth | March 30, 1979 | Gdańsk, Poland |
| Mike Mangini | Dream Theater | April 18, 1963 | Newton, Massachusetts, USA |
| Mike Portnoy | Dream Theater | April 20, 1967 | Long Beach, New York, USA |
| Jason Bittner | Shadows Fall / Overkill | April 24, 1970 | Long Island, New York, USA |
| Shannon Larkin | Godsmack | April 24, 1967 | Baltimore, Maryland, USA |
| Joey Jordison † | Slipknot | April 26, 1975 | Des Moines, Iowa, USA |
| Nick Augusto | Trivium | May 3, 1987 | Orlando, Florida, USA |
| Bill Ward | Black Sabbath | May 5, 1948 | Aston, Birmingham, UK |
| Flo Mounier | Cryptopsy | May 6, 1974 | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Danny Carey | Tool | May 10, 1961 | Lawrence, Kansas, USA |
| Gavin Harrison | Porcupine Tree / King Crimson | May 28, 1963 | Harrow, London, UK |
| Martin Lopez | Opeth / Soen | June 1, 1978 | Oviedo, Spain |
| Nicko McBrain | Iron Maiden | June 5, 1952 | Hackney, London, UK |
| Blake Richardson | Between the Buried and Me | June 5, 1983 | North Carolina, USA |
| Daray | Behemoth / Vader | June 6, 1979 | Białystok, Poland |
| Ray Luzier | Korn | June 14, 1970 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Mario Duplantier | Gojira | June 19, 1981 | Ondres, France |
| Frost | Satyricon / 1349 | June 28, 1973 | Oslo, Norway |
| Tomas Haake | Meshuggah | July 13, 1971 | Örebro, Sweden |
| Jaska Raatikainen | Children of Bodom | July 14, 1979 | Espoo, Finland |
| Hannes Grossmann | Obscura / Alkaloid | July 25, 1982 | Regensburg, Germany |
| Abe Cunningham | Deftones | July 27, 1973 | Sacramento, California, USA |
| Morgan Ågren | Mats/Morgan Band | August 12, 1967 | Umeå, Sweden |
| Jon Dette | Testament / Slayer | August 25, 1967 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA |
| Eloy Casagrande | Slipknot / Sepultura | August 25, 1991 | São Paulo, Brazil |
| Ben Koller | Converge / Mutoid Man | August 27, 1977 | Massachusetts, USA |
| George Kollias | Nile | August 30, 1977 | Korinth, Greece |
| Gene Hoglan | Testament / Death | August 31, 1967 | Dallas, Texas, USA |
| Igor Cavalera | Sepultura | September 4, 1970 | Belo Horizonte, Brazil |
| Scott Travis | Judas Priest | September 6, 1961 | Norfolk, Virginia, USA |
| Paul Mazurkiewicz | Cannibal Corpse | September 8, 1968 | Buffalo, New York, USA |
| Jay Weinberg | Slipknot | September 8, 1990 | New Jersey, USA |
| Aquiles Priester | Angra / Primal Fear | September 17, 1971 | Porto Alegre, Brazil |
| Travis Orbin | Periphery | September 25, 1983 | Baltimore, Maryland, USA |
| Daniel Erlandsson | Arch Enemy | October 21, 1974 | Malmö, Sweden |
| Mikkey Dee | Motörhead / Scorpions | October 31, 1963 | Gothenburg, Sweden |
| Jocke Wallgren | Amon Amarth | November 4, 1981 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Matt Garstka | Animals as Leaders | November 15, 1988 | Westfield, Massachusetts, USA |
| Matt Greiner | August Burns Red | November 19, 1987 | Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Chris Adler | Lamb of God | November 23, 1972 | Richmond, Virginia, USA |
| Charlie Benante | Anthrax | November 27, 1962 | The Bronx, New York, USA |
| Ryan Van Poederooyen | Devin Townsend Project | December 20, 1971 | Vancouver, Canada |
| Lars Ulrich | Metallica | December 26, 1963 | Gentofte, Denmark |

† = deceased

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## Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Which metal drummer has the earliest birthday (oldest)?**
A: Bill Ward (Black Sabbath), born May 5, 1948, is the oldest metal drummer on MetalForge and is widely considered the godfather of heavy metal drumming.

**Q: Who is the youngest metal drummer on MetalForge?**
A: Chris Turner (Oceans Ate Alaska), born February 4, 1992, is the youngest drummer in the MetalForge database.

**Q: Which metal drummers were born in the same year?**
A: Several drummers share birth years — 1967 is particularly notable, with Gene Hoglan (August 31), Mike Portnoy (April 20), Morgan Ågren (August 12), Jon Dette (August 25), and Shannon Larkin (April 24) all born that year. Dave Lombardo (1965) and Lars Ulrich (1963) represent the core thrash metal generation.

**Q: Which month has the most metal drummer birthdays?**
A: August and November each have the most entries, with six and five birthdays respectively.

**Q: Which metal drummers have passed away?**
A: Joey Jordison (Slipknot) passed away on July 26, 2021. Vinnie Paul (Pantera) passed away on June 22, 2018.

**Q: When is Lars Ulrich's birthday?**
A: Lars Ulrich was born on December 26, 1963, in Gentofte, Denmark.

**Q: When is Dave Lombardo's birthday?**
A: Dave Lombardo was born on February 16, 1965, in Havana, Cuba.

**Q: Which metal drummers were born in December?**
A: Ryan Van Poederooyen (December 20, 1971) and Lars Ulrich (December 26, 1963) were both born in December.

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## Profile Links

Full gear breakdowns and profiles for each drummer are at [https://metalforge.io/birthdays](https://metalforge.io/birthdays).

Per-drummer LLM files with complete gear specs: [https://metalforge.io/llms/drummers/](https://metalforge.io/llms/drummers/)
