Who was John Barbata? Jefferson Starship drummer dies aged 79

On May 8, legendary American pop and rock drummer John Barbata passed away in Ada, Oklahoma, at the age of 79. As of this writing, the exact cause of his death remains undisclosed.

In the aftermath of his demise, San Francisco-based rock band Jefferson Starship, of which John Barbata was a member from 1974 to 1978, mourned the news. Sharing an old picture of the late drummer, they wrote on Facebook:

"We are saddened to hear of the passing of the great John Barbata, Jefferson Starship’s original drummer. Our thoughts go out to his family, friends, and fans. Rock in peace, Johnny!"

Mr. Barbata is survived by his singer-songwriter daughter Leah and her family. His wife of 35 years artist Angela Evans, with whom he released two albums California and Oklahoma in the 1980s, succumbed to cancer in 2016.

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John Barbata built a recording studio in Comptche, California

Session drummer John Barbata was born on April 1, 1945, in Passaic, New Jersey. He grew up in Saranac Lake, New York, and Nutley, New Jersey. Youngest among three siblings, he became interested in percussion after he witnessed his older brother playing drums in a marching band.

He began drumming at the age of 16 and founded his own band, The Velvatones, during his time in Rialto, California. Later, he formed another band called The Ambassadors.

Soon, in 1961, John Barbata was approached as a drummer for the instrumental surf rock band, The Sentinals, and toured across the country with them. When the band disbanded five years later, he moved to Hollywood and played alongside Lee Michaels, the pop rock band Canned Heat, and Chris Ethridge among others.

However, his career breakthrough came in 1966 when he joined The Turtles for three years, and went on to contribute to their famous songs including Happy Together, She’d Rather Be With Me, You Showed Me, She’s My Girl, and Elenore.

Following this, in early 1970, John Barbata joined the band CSNY (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) and went on to play for eight albums, including the live album 4 Way Street and the hit single Ohio. He even performed individually with all the band members throughout the 1970s.

Two years later, when CSNY was on a hiatus, Barbata moved on to Jefferson Airplane and worked on their last two albums, Long John Silver (1972) and Thirty Seconds Over Winterland (1973).

When it disbanded, John stayed back and soon co-founded its successor, Jefferson Starship, with a changed name and direction. He played drums for the band’s various upcoming albums including 1974’s Dragon Fly, 1975’s Red Octopus as well as 1978’s Earth.

Over the years, he also recorded with musicians Linda Ronstadt, Johnny Rivers, Joni Mitchell, Leon Russell, Doctor John, Ry Cooder, The Ever Brothers, and more.

In October 1978, John Barbata met with a serious car accident which left him with multiple fractures. As a result, he took an untimely retirement to focus on his recovery.

During his career break, he built a house and a recording studio in Comptche, California, and made local music. A few years later, in July 1981, he married Angela Evans and together the couple created two albums. Later, in 1987, their daughter Leah was born.

Following his wife’s death in 2016, he lived in her hometown Ada, Oklahoma in honor of her memory, and performed with his former bandmates and daughter at several local events. In 2005, John Barbata released his memoir titled The Legendary Life of a Rock Star Drummer.