In all, Kenny Aronoff has upwards of 300 million records sold featuring his work and over 1,300 certified Gold, Platinum, or Diamond awards by the Recording Industry Association of America. He has had more than 60 Grammy ® contributions and more than a dozen # 1 singles. Catch him while you can near the Berkshires when he joins legendary guitar icons Joe Satriani and Steve Vai to bring their SatchVai Band on a“ Surfing with The Hydra” U. S. tour to the Palace Theatre in Albany on May 21. Aronoff also joins Hagar in the“ Best of All Worlds” show that comes within a few hours of the Berkshires at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield on June 24.
This prolific drummer couldn’ t be more forthcoming about his Berkshire roots and his approach to success. On the day I interviewed him, Aronoff spent the morning refining a keynote talk that he was to give at a corporate meeting in the Bahamas, combining storytelling with his experiences working with other big-name artists. Later, he planned to work on three charts that he will record in his LA studio. Those two separate worlds— motivational speaker and kick-ass drummer— are part of the Aronoff brand he has built. We talked about the evolution of the music industry( and himself) and the importance of passion, perseverance, and innovation in overcoming challenges— and not bullshitting yourself.
ANASTASIA: You’ ve been in the industry for nearly five decades. How has it changed? KENNY: People used to fly me all over the world to make records, sometimes to record just one song. That all went away when people stopped buying records. So, I relocated to LA, got my own studio, people send me files, and then I record drums for them and send them out. Playing music is what I want to do— I’ ve got to do it and I can’ t not do it. That’ s the fuel that helps me to push through all the setbacks and all the obstacles that we run into in life.
ANASTASIA: How did your music career begin and evolve? KENNY: I went to college, because that’ s what we did in our family. I did one year at UMass Amherst. I spent one summer after my freshman year at the Aspen School of Music, run by Juilliard. That’ s what got me to Indiana University, because my teacher at Aspen, George Gaber, was the head of the percussion department at Indiana. I demanded an audition, and after going back and forth many times, he realized,“ Hey, this guy really wants to come study with me.” Every spring while I was at Indiana University, I would also audition to go to Tanglewood. I got rejected the first year, the second year, the third year, and the fourth year I got in. That’ s where I got to work with Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, and Aaron Copland. I was not the most talented at Indiana, but I had my passion and desire, which was the fuel that made me work hard, be self-disciplined, and persevere. I wanted to be the best that I could. I’ d stay in the practice room till two in the morning, till they kicked me out. At a school like Indiana University, there are virtuoso, genius players, but I had my personality and skillset, which was being part of team and knowing how to connect and communicate with people on a very personal level. That came natural to me.
ANASTASIA: So, this was not something you developed overnight. What happened after Indiana? KENNY: When I graduated from Indiana University, I got into the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Touchdown! My parents invested all this money in their kid to go to college, and then he gets a job in the field that he studied. The American Dream. And I turned it down. Everybody’ s like,“ What are you doing?” And I’ m even looking in the mirror going,“ I can’ t believe what you just did.” But here’ s the takeaway: Thank God I followed my heart. My heart wanted to be in a rock-and-roll band, because at age ten in little old Stockbridge, when I saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show on that black-and-white TV set, I went,“ What? Who are those guys, mom?”“ Well, they’ re The Beatles.” I said,“ I want to be in The Beatles. I want to play drums. Forget about those piano lessons.” That’ s when I realized what my purpose in life was, before I even knew what those words meant.“ I want to do that. I want to be in a band. I want to grow my hair, and I want to wear those cool clothes, and I want the girls going crazy over me like them. I want a set of drums.” They saw that I was crazy about rock and roll. From that point on, they supported me, got a snare drum and a cymbal, and I started my first band with John Sauer called The Alley Cats, with Jeff Hodges and Steve Harris. We played Beatles music. I shut my eyes, and I dreamed that I was in The Beatles, with my hair long and wearing a cool suit.
ANASTASIA: And you were only ten? KENNY: Yes, ten years old. Check this out: Fifty years later, I get a call from a producer. He says,“ Hey, Kenny, man, are you available on this day? We’ re doing a tribute to The Beatles on CBS called‘ The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to The Beatles,’” honoring The Beatles for the Ed Sullivan Show that I saw, and that 73 million North Americans saw, that changed our lives. I got to play with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
ANASTASIA: Talk about full circle. KENNY: I followed my heart. I was willing to turn down a paycheck, a job, move back to Stockbridge, move into my parents’ house. I was practicing eight hours a day, not knowing where this was going because I had no blueprint on how to get into a band like The Beatles. My desire to want to make it kept me from overcoming the setbacks and the obstacles.
ANASTASIA: What was your lucky break? KENNY: Well, I’ m home for a year, and I’ m like,“ Where am I going with this?” I was playing gigs in New York and
36 // BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE Spring 2026