Joey Waronker

Early life

Waronker was born in Los Angeles, California. His father Lenny is the former head of Warner Bros. Records and DreamWorks Records. His mother is actress and singer Donna Loren. His parents are Jewish. His sister Anna is a singer-songwriter, and his grandfather was classical violinist Simon Waronker.

Career

Waronker began his career in 1989, drumming for the alternative rock band Walt Mink, which he helped form while attending Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1989. The band's name was taken from that of a former psychology professor at Macalester. He played on their first two albums, Miss Happiness (1992) and Bareback Ride (1993).

In the 1990s, Waronker played on Beck's albums Odelay, Mutations, Midnite Vultures, Sea Change, Guero, Modern Guilt, and Morning Phase). In 1998, he replaced the exiting Bill Berry in R.E.M. for the album Up and it subsequent tour. He also appeared on 2001's Reveal.

In 2009, Waronker joined Thom Yorke, Nigel Godrich, Mauro Refosco and Flea to play material from Yorke's album The Eraser, as well as other original pieces, for three dates in Los Angeles in October 2009. The band, now named Atoms for Peace, then played a brief tour of America in April 2010. Their full-length album Amok was released February 25, 2013, on XL Records. Waronker later contributed drums to the song "The Axe" from Yorke's third studio album, Anima.

Waronker formed Ultraísta with Nigel Godrich and Laura Bettison. Their debut album was released on Temporary Residence on October 2, 2012. The same year, he appeared on Irish folk musician Malojian's 2017 album, Let Your Weirdness Carry You Home.

Waronker played on Roger Waters' album *Is This the Life We Really Want? *(2017) and joined Waters' band during the Us + Them Tour. He contributed to Waters' Lockdown Session, The Dark Side of the Moon Redux album and performed on Waters' This Is Not a Drill tour (2022–2023).

In 2023, producer Greg Kurstin enlisted Waronker to play drums on Liam Gallagher and John Squire's self-titled collaboration album, and Waronker also joined its subsequent tour. In July 2025, Waronker became a touring member of Oasis on their 2025 tour, with Liam Gallagher saying of Waronker: "He's the best and we're lucky to have him. I've enjoyed all our drummers but this guy is special."

Album credits

• Mellow Gold – Beck (1994)
• Odelay – Beck (1996)
• Mutations – Beck (1998)
• Let It Rain – Tracy Chapman (2002)
• Folklore – Nelly Furtado (2003)
• Chariot – Gavin DeGraw (2003)
• Melancolista – Adam Cohen (2004)
• Chaos and Creation in the Backyard – Paul McCartney (2005)
• Fires – Nerina Pallot (2005)
• How the Mighty Fall – Mark Owen (2005)
• Wreck of the Day – Anna Nalick (2005)
• What's Left of Me – Nick Lachey (2006)
• Loose – Nelly Furtado (2006)
• Two Lights (album) – Five for Fighting (2006)
• The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard – Rickie Lee Jones (2007)
• Our Bright Future – Tracy Chapman (2008)
• The Fall – Norah Jones (2009)
• IRM – Charlotte Gainsbourg (2009)
• ...Little Broken Hearts – Norah Jones (2012)
• AMOK – Atoms for Peace (2013)
• Melody Road – Neil Diamond (2014)
• The Desired Effect – Brandon Flowers (2015)
• Victorious – Wolfmother (2016)
• Bleeding Heart – Regina Spektor (2016)
• Is This the Life We Really Want? – Roger Waters (2017)
• Tasmania – Pond (2019)
• Anima – Thom Yorke (2019)
• Rare Birds – Jonathan Wilson (2018)
• American Utopia – David Byrne (2018)
• Home, Before and After – Regina Spektor (2022)
• Us + Them – Roger Waters (2022)
• Cry Baby – Tegan and Sara (2022)
• Radio Daze + Glamping – Roger Manning (2023)
• The Lockdown Sessions – Roger Waters (2023)
• The Dark Side of the Moon Redux – Roger Waters (2023)
• Autumn Jones – Norah Jones (2024)
• Liam Gallagher John Squire – Liam Gallagher and John Squire (2024)
• This Is Not a Drill: Live from Prague – Roger Waters (2025)
• I Used to Go to This Bar – Joyce Manor (2026)

References

References

1. (January 10, 2016). "BMI | Repertoire Search".
2. Bream, Jon. (1999-08-21). "Pal Joey". [[Minneapolis Star Tribune]].
3. Jackson, Benjamin. (2025-06-09). "Who is Joey Waronker - the new Oasis drummer Liam Gallagher calls 'special' as the band continue rehearsals". [[The Yorkshire Post]].
4. Ali, Lorraine. (1999-07-19). "Coolest Drums in the West: Joey Waronker's the Beat Behind Beck and R.E.M.". [[Kenosha News]].
5. . (2018-04-09). ["Kim Kardashian much easier to shoot for Playboy than "guarded" Ashley Dupre: photog Steve Wayda"](https://www.nydailynews.com/2010/04/24/kim-kardashian-much-easier-to-shoot-for-playboy-than-guarded-ashley-dupre-photog-steve-wayda/). *[[New York Daily News]]*.
6. Silver, Stephen. (2020-10-09). "Prince and the Jews: The late rock star's best Jewish friend tells all in new memoir".
7. Loren, Donna. (2013-03-28). "Vibrant Pink Bunny".
8. (August 14, 2004). "Untitled Document".
9. "Dead Air Space". Radiohead.com.
10. Dombal, Ryan. (February 25, 2010). "Thom Yorke Names Solo Band, Lines Up American Spring Tour | News". Pitchfork.
11. (June 26, 2019). "5 Takeaways From Thom Yorke's New Album, ANIMA".
12. "Let Your Weirdness Carry You Home, by malojian".
13. "Roger Waters: Lockdown Sessions – YouTube".
14. (July 21, 2023). "Roger Waters to Release 'The Dark Side of the Moon Redux' as a Solo LP in October".
15. "Roger Waters This Is Not A Drill 2022 Tour".
16. Kaufman, Gil. (June 9, 2025). "Liam Gallagher Gushes About Oasis Reunion Drummer Joey Waronker: 'This Guy Is Special'".
17. Pearis, Bill. "Liam Gallagher not happy about Oasis reunion lineup leak".
18. (October 7, 2025). "Joyce Manor announce new album & tour with Militarie Gun, Teen Mortgage & Combat".