If you’ve ever seen Tommy play drums live whether with Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, Ted Nugent or any other of the hard rock icons he’s shared the stage with, it’s safe to assume you’ve focused your eyes and ears on the drummer through his unbridled, relentless, pure rock n’ roll performance style that has made him what some call a drumming legend.
Tommy Clufetos was born in Detroit, Michigan. Raised in a musical family, Tommy at the age of 7 picked the drums to be his instrument of choice.
By the time Tommy was 18, he had joined the band Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels (Devil with a Blue Dress) and later went on to perform with Ted Nugent from 2001-2003 and was on the “Craveman” and “Love Grenade” releases.
Alice Cooper then summoned him for his 2004 “Eyes of Alice Cooper World Tour”. Tommy is featured on the Cooper “Dirty Diamonds” studio album.
While recording the Cooper album in Los Angeles, Tommy received a call to join a new band Rob Zombie was putting together as a result of his highly successful “House of 1,000 Corpses” movie debut. The band featured Tommy on drums and John 5 (just out of Marilyn Manson fame). The pair brought new life and musical energy to Zombie’s horror themed onslaught. They went on to record Zombie’s “Educated Horses” album followed by a highly successful (over-one-year) tour documented by the 2007 “Zombie -Live” album. Finally, while recording Zombie’s “Hellbilly Deluxe 2” studio album, Tommy was approached by rock icon Ozzy Osbourne to bring new life to his music with a new group with new personnel.
The 2010-2012 Ozzy Osbourne “Scream World Tour” followed and hit over 30 countries. It featured a highly energized Osbourne backed by that unbridled, relentless performance style that is Tommy.
In November 2012, it was announced that Ozzy would be reuniting with Black Sabbath. Tommy was called on to play drums on the two-year-long “13 World Tour”. His first gig with the band was in their hometown of Birmingham, England followed by headlining the Download Festival at Castle Donington in front of 150,000 people with the rest of the world to follow. The last show of the tour was in Hyde Park, London.
The Black Sabbath “The End Farewell Tour” followed in January 2016 and ended a little over a year later. It solidified Tommy as the worlds' premier powerhouse drummer.
Tommy is featured on “The End” album and concert DVD that accompanied the tour. In May 2021, it was announced that Clufetos joined with previous band-mates Rob Zombie and John 5 as well as Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue) to form a super group called L.A. Rats. Their debut track, “I’ve Been Everywhere”, is from the soundtrack to the Liam Neeson film “The Ice Road” and topped hard rock radio charts everywhere that summer.
From behind the drums, Tommy has now stepped into the role of bandleader with TOMMY’S ROCKTRIP which is the drummer’s new hard rock outfit, where he offers his take on the rock n’ roll influences that made him one of the most sought-after drummers currently in the hard rock scene.
Tommy’s Rocktrip’s full-length album, “Beat Up By Rock n’ Roll” is now available. He has taken all his rock n’ roll experience and used it to create RockTrip’s live show that rivals the biggest bands on the planet with its go for the throat, take no prisoners live show that only a part man, part beast would attach his name to.
