Legendary Drummer James Gadson, Who Backed Diana Ross, Bill Withers & Marvin Gaye, Dies at 86

Legendary drummer James Gadson, who backed iconic artists including Diana Ross, Bill Withers and Marvin Gaye, has died. He was 86.

Gadson’s wife, Barbara, confirmed his passing to Rolling Stone on Thursday (April 2), noting that he had recently faced health challenges, including a surgery and a fall that injured his back.

“He was a wonderful man,” Barbara said. “He was a great husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, and one hell of a drummer.”

Gadson became one of the defining funk, soul, and disco drummers of the 1970s, providing the beats on classics such as Withers’ “Lean on Me” and “Use Me,” The Jackson 5’s “Dancing Machine,” and Ross’ “Love Hangover.” During that decade, he also played on Gaye’s “I Want You,” Thelma Houston’s “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” and Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band’s “Express Yourself.”

“Most grooves, especially for dance music, are very simple,” Gadson told Modern Drummer in 2007. “Even so, to learn them, you have to slow them down. A lot of times we do all these rudimental things to see how fast we can play. I think you have to slow it all down and simplify it. Then you can kind of feel whether it’s danceable or not.”

As a highly in-demand session player, Gadson also recorded with the Temptations, Leonard Cohen, Bobby Womack, B.B. King, Barbra Streisand, Ray Charles, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Herbie Hancock, Paul McCartney, D’Angelo, Beck, Kelly Clarkson, Justin Timberlake, Lana Del Rey, and Harry Styles.

Born on June 17, 1939, in Kansas City, Missouri, Gadson grew up in a musical family. His father was a drummer who bought him and his brother cornets to play in their school’s drum and bugle corps. As a teenager, he sang doo-wop with a group called the Carpets and later discovered funk music while stationed in Louisiana with the Air Force, according to Rolling Stone. After leaving the service, he joined his brother’s band, playing keyboards and singing, while also teaching himself to play the drums.

Gadson later began playing drums with Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band and recorded several albums. He also served as a drummer at various times for artists touring through Kansas City, including Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, Jimmy Reed, Sam Cooke, and Otis Redding.

“At first, during the time I didn’t really know how to play R&B, it was awful,” he told Modern Drummer. “I wouldn’t even charge them it was so bad. I felt bad about wasting their studio time. I couldn’t keep a steady pattern because I was coming from a free-jazz mindset.”

Numerous artists paid tribute to Gadson following his passing.

“My heart is heavy at the passing of my old friend the legendary drummer James Gadson,” Beck wrote on Instagram. “He played drums on many of my records over the decades, from midnite vultures on and has been a significant part of the sound of so many of my songs.”

The musician added, “I feel fortunate to have known this gentle giant of a man who was such a musical force and left his mark on so much classic music, from bill withers to I will survive.”

Questlove also remembered Gadson, writing on Instagram, “Some drummers are soulful. Some drummers are funky. Some drummer are a rockin. Some drummers are swinging——but NO drummer, has impacted the art of breakbeat drummer (danceable drums) like James Gadson.”

Ray Parker Jr. commented on Instagram, “We played together over 50 years. He changed the world.”