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Nick Menza
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Nick Menza
Nicholas Menza (July 23, 1964 – May 21, 2016) was an American musician who was the drummer of the thrash metal band Megadeth from 1989 to 1998. He played drums on four of Megadeth's albums: Rust in Peace (1990), Countdown to Extinction (1992), Youthanasia (1994), and Cryptic Writings (1997).
Menza was born in Munich, Germany, where his father, jazz musician Don Menza, had been stationed with the U.S. Army. He began playing drums at the age of two, when during a concert’s intermission he sat at Jack DeJohnette's drums and proceeded to play. Menza's influences stem from being around Buddy Rich, Steve Gadd, Nick Ceroli, Jeff Porcaro, and Louie Bellson.
Beginning his professional musical career at the age of 18, drumming in the band Rhoads featuring singer Kelle Rhoads, brother of the late Randy Rhoads, Menza released his first record with Rhoads, titled Into the Future, in Europe in 1986.
Following Rhoads, Menza was part of a succession of Los Angeles metal bands, including The Green (with Rhoads bandmates John Goodwin on guitar and Darwin Ballard on bass), Von Skeletor (another collaboration with Goodwin and Michael Guillory on guitars, Cam Daigneault on drums, and Menza handling lead vocals on the band's demo and self-released album, Injection of Death), and Cold Fire (also featuring Warrior guitarist Joe Floyd) before joining Megadeth.
Moving on to session playing including styles ranging from R&B to gospel, funk and heavy metal, recording with the likes of John Fogerty, Menza caught the attention of then Megadeth drummer Chuck Behler and became his tech. Behler was unavailable at a planned Rock City gig in Nottingham, England, so Menza performed the soundcheck. Dave Mustaine remarked in an April 2019 interview that he knew Menza would join the band. This prior experience and personal relationship led to the invitation to join Megadeth for the 1990 recording Rust in Peace.
For the next ten years, Menza became associated with Megadeth's "classic" period and also his Greg Voelker Rack System. This included a double-bass drum kit with the tom-toms mounted on a lower chrome rack and all cymbal crashes mounted on a higher rack, which was supported by two chrome bars behind the drummer. This was later adopted by Megadeth on 2004's Blackmail the Universe tour, which featured a similar rack system.
During his tenure in Megadeth, Menza also played drums on his bandmate Marty Friedman's three solo albums, Scenes (1992), Introduction (1994) and True Obsessions (1996).
By the summer of 1998, while the band was still touring in support of Cryptic Writings, Menza was having knee problems and sought medical advice. He was informed he had a tumor, which was later found to be benign, and had it removed. Rather than cancel any dates, Megadeth hired Jimmy DeGrasso as a temporary replacement. When the time came to record a follow-up album, Menza was not asked back and DeGrasso became the band's official drummer. Menza has said in several interviews that, while in the hospital recovering from knee surgery, he received a phone call from Mustaine that simply said, "Your services are not needed anymore."
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Nick Menza
Nicholas Menza (July 23, 1964 – May 21, 2016) was an American musician who was the drummer of the thrash metal band Megadeth from 1989 to 1998. He played drums on four of Megadeth's albums: Rust in Peace (1990), Countdown to Extinction (1992), Youthanasia (1994), and Cryptic Writings (1997).
Menza was born in Munich, Germany, where his father, jazz musician Don Menza, had been stationed with the U.S. Army. He began playing drums at the age of two, when during a concert’s intermission he sat at Jack DeJohnette's drums and proceeded to play. Menza's influences stem from being around Buddy Rich, Steve Gadd, Nick Ceroli, Jeff Porcaro, and Louie Bellson.
Beginning his professional musical career at the age of 18, drumming in the band Rhoads featuring singer Kelle Rhoads, brother of the late Randy Rhoads, Menza released his first record with Rhoads, titled Into the Future, in Europe in 1986.
Following Rhoads, Menza was part of a succession of Los Angeles metal bands, including The Green (with Rhoads bandmates John Goodwin on guitar and Darwin Ballard on bass), Von Skeletor (another collaboration with Goodwin and Michael Guillory on guitars, Cam Daigneault on drums, and Menza handling lead vocals on the band's demo and self-released album, Injection of Death), and Cold Fire (also featuring Warrior guitarist Joe Floyd) before joining Megadeth.
Moving on to session playing including styles ranging from R&B to gospel, funk and heavy metal, recording with the likes of John Fogerty, Menza caught the attention of then Megadeth drummer Chuck Behler and became his tech. Behler was unavailable at a planned Rock City gig in Nottingham, England, so Menza performed the soundcheck. Dave Mustaine remarked in an April 2019 interview that he knew Menza would join the band. This prior experience and personal relationship led to the invitation to join Megadeth for the 1990 recording Rust in Peace.
For the next ten years, Menza became associated with Megadeth's "classic" period and also his Greg Voelker Rack System. This included a double-bass drum kit with the tom-toms mounted on a lower chrome rack and all cymbal crashes mounted on a higher rack, which was supported by two chrome bars behind the drummer. This was later adopted by Megadeth on 2004's Blackmail the Universe tour, which featured a similar rack system.
During his tenure in Megadeth, Menza also played drums on his bandmate Marty Friedman's three solo albums, Scenes (1992), Introduction (1994) and True Obsessions (1996).
By the summer of 1998, while the band was still touring in support of Cryptic Writings, Menza was having knee problems and sought medical advice. He was informed he had a tumor, which was later found to be benign, and had it removed. Rather than cancel any dates, Megadeth hired Jimmy DeGrasso as a temporary replacement. When the time came to record a follow-up album, Menza was not asked back and DeGrasso became the band's official drummer. Menza has said in several interviews that, while in the hospital recovering from knee surgery, he received a phone call from Mustaine that simply said, "Your services are not needed anymore."