Chad Cromwell

Chad Cromwell (born June 14, 1957) is an American rock drummer whose music career has spanned more than 30 years. He is the founding member of a band called Fortunate Sons, which released a self-titled album in 2004.
Cromwell has worked with multiple prominent artists from various genres, including Neil Young, Mark Knopfler, Joe Walsh, Joss Stone, Bonnie Raitt, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash.
Early life
Cromwell was born on June 14, 1957, in Paducah, Kentucky. When he was three years old he moved with his parents and siblings to Memphis, Tennessee in 1960. In 1970, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and remained there for the rest of his childhood.
He started playing drums at the age of eight, wearing headphones as he played along to records in an upstairs room of his parents' home. By the age of twelve he was playing in garage bands in the local neighborhood.
Career
Cromwell started recording and touring with Joe Walsh in 1986, appearing on two albums, Got Any Gum? and Ordinary Average Guy.
In 1987, Cromwell began a collaboration with songwriter Neil Young. The initial sessions became Neil Young & The Bluenotes. Since then he has recorded and toured with Young on several occasions, and appears on albums such as Freedom (1989), Prairie Wind (2005) Living with War (2006) and Chrome Dreams II (2007). He has also appeared in Heart of Gold, a documentary capturing the debut of Neil Young's album, Prairie Wind (along with other Young classics). This was filmed at the Ryman auditorium and directed by Jonathan Demme.
Cromwell is also known for his contributions to Mark Knopfler's solo albums Golden Heart (1996), Sailing to Philadelphia (2000), The Ragpicker's Dream (2002) and Shangri-La (2004). He was also part of Knopfler's band during the tours of his first solo albums.
Cromwell toured with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the summer of 2006.
He has also worked with many other artists including Dave Stewart, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Lady Antebellum, Diana Krall, Willie Nelson, Jackson Browne, Boz Scaggs, Wynonna, Trisha Yearwood, Miranda Lambert, Bonnie Raitt, Peter Frampton, Allison Moorer, Chris Knight, Joss Stone, Rodney Crowell, Marty Stuart, and Stevie Nicks.
In the mid 2000s, Cromwell formed the band Fortunate Sons along with Michael Rhodes, Gary Nicholson, Kenny Greenberg, and Reese Wynans. They released a self-titled album in 2004. He is also a member of the occasional touring band, Big Al Anderson and The Balls, led by former NRBQ guitarist Al Anderson.
In 2012, he appeared on The Beach Boys' studio album entitled That's Why God Made the Radio. In 2013, he was featured on Bonnie Tyler's album, Rocks and Honey.
In 2014, he provided drums on Drake Bell's third studio album, Ready Steady Go!
Personal life
He lives in both Nashville and Los Angeles with his wife, Windy.
Collaborations
With Trace Adkins
Love Will... (Show Dog, 2013)
With Lady Antebellum
Lady Antebellum (Capitol Records, 2008)
Need You Now (Capitol Records, 2010)
Own the Night (Capitol Records, 2011)
Golden (Capitol Records, 2017)
With Katie Armiger
Believe (Cold River Records, 2008)
Fall Into Me (Cold River Records, 2013)
With Sweet Pea Atkinson
Get What You Deserve (Blue Note, 2017)
With Joan Baez
Play Me Backwards (Virgin Records, 1992)
Gone from Danger (Guardian, 1997)
With The Beach Boys
That's Why God Made the Radio (Capitol Records, 2012)
With Drake Bell
Ready Steady Go! (Warner Bros. Records, 2014)
With Matraca Berg
Sunday Morning to Sunday Night (Rising Tride Records, 1997)
With Michael Bolton
All That Matters (Columbia Records, 1997)
With Joe Bonamassa
Dust Bowl (J&R Adventures, 2011)
With Danielle Bradbery
Danielle Bradbery (Big Machine Records, 2013)
With Lee Brice
I Don't Dance (Curb Records, 2014)
With Pieta Brown
Remember the Sun (One Little Independent Records, 2007)
Mercury (Red House Records, 2011)
Postcards (Lustre Records, 2017)
With Kix Brooks
New to This Town (Arista Records, 2012)
With Brooks & Dunn
Cowboy Town (Arista Records, 2007)
With Billy Burnette
Rock & Roll With It (Rock & Roll With It Records, 2011)
With Shawn Camp
Fireball (Skeeterbit, 2006)
With Mary Chapin Carpenter
Between Here and Gone (Columbia Records, 2004)
With Paul Carrack
I Know That Name (Carrack UK, 2008)
With Beth Nielsen Chapman
Uncovered (BNC Records, 2014)
With Steven Curtis Chapman
Signs of Life (Sparrow Records, 1996)
With Kenny Chesney
When the Sun Goes Down (BNA Records, 2004)
Be as You Are (BNA Records, 2005)
The Road and the Radio (BNA Records, 2005)
The Big Revival (Columbia Records, 2014)
Cosmic Hallelujah (Columbia Records, 2016)
Songs for the Saints (Warner Bros. Records, 2018)
Here and Now (Blue Chair, 2020)
With Terri Clark
Classic (EMI, 2012)
With Mark Collie
Book of My Blues (Harvest, 2021)
With John Cowan
John Cowan (Sugar Hill Records, 2000)
With Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
American Dream (Atlantic Records, 1988)
With Rodney Crowell
The Houston Kid (Sugar Hill Records, 2001)
The Outsider (Columbia Records, 2005)
With George Ducas
George Ducas (Liberty Records, 1994)
With Ronnie Dunn
Ronnie Dunn (Arista Records, 2011)
Re-Dunn (Little Will-E Records, 2020)
With Radney Foster
See What You Want to See (Arista Records, 1999)
With Peter Frampton
Now (33rd Street Records, 2003)
Fingerprints (Polydor Records, 2006)
Thank You Mr. Churchill (New Door Records, 2010)
Hummingbird in a Box (Red Distribution, 2014)
With Vince Gill
Next Big Thing (MCA Records, 2003)
These Days (MCA Records, 2006)
Guitar Slinger (MCA Records, 2011)
With William Lee Golden
American Vagabond (MCA Records, 1986)
With Amy Grant
House of Love (A&M Records, 1994)
Behind the Eyes (A&M Records, 1997)
Legacy... Hymns and Faith (A&M Records, 2002)
Simple Things (A&M Records, 2003)
Rock of Ages... Hymns and Faith (World Records, 2005)
Somewhere Down the Road (Sparrow Records, 2010)
With Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell
Old Yellow Moon (Nonesuch Records, 2013)
With Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopfler
All the Roadrunning (Mercury Records, 2006)
With Rebecca Lynn Howard
Rebecca Lynn Howard (MCA Records, 2000)
With Sonya Isaacs
Sonya Isaacs (Lyric Street Records, 2000)
With Jewel
Picking Up the Pieces (Sugar Hill Records, 2015)
With Toby Keith
A Classic Christmas (Show Dog Nashville, 2007)
Big Dog Daddy (Show Dog Nashville, 2007)
Bullets in the Gun (Universal Music, 2010)
Clancy's Tavern (Universal Music, 2011)
Hope on the Rocks (Universal Music, 2012)
Drinks After Work (Universal Music, 2013)
35 MPH Town (Universal Music, 2015)
Peso in My Pocket (Universal Music, 2021)
With Charles Kelley
The Driver (Capitol Records, 2016)
With Mark Knopfler
Golden Heart (Vertigo Records, 1996)
Sailing to Philadelphia (Mercury Records, 2000)
The Ragpicker's Dream (Mercury Records, 2002)
Shangri-La (Mercury Records, 2004)
One Take Radio Sessions (Mercury Records, 2005)
With Alison Krauss
Windy City (Capitol Records, 2017)
With Miranda Lambert
Kerosene (Epic Records, 2005)
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Columbia Records, 2007)
Revolution (Columbia Records, 2009)
With Jim Lauderdale
Whisper (BNA Records, 1997)
Patchwork River (Thirty Tigers, 2010)
I'm a Song (Sky Crunch Records, 2014)
With Cyndi Lauper
Detour (Rhino Records, 2016)
With Kenny Marks
Attitude (DaySpring Records, 1986)
Make It Right (DaySpring Records, 1987)
With Mac McAnally
Word of Mouth (DreamWorks, 1999)
Semi-True Stories (Mailboat Records, 2004)
Aka Nobody (Mailboat Records, 2015)
Southbound: The Orchestra Project (Mailboat Records, 2017)
With Pat McLaughlin
Next Five Miles (Creamstyle, 2003)
Horsefly (Creamstyle, 2006)
With Jo Dee Messina
Unmistakable: Love (Curb Records, 2010)
With Frankie Miller
Long Way Home (Brighton Music, 2006)
With John Michael Montgomery
Brand New Me (Atlantic Records, 2000)
With Allison Moorer
Alabama Song (MCA Records, 1998)
The Hardest Part (MCA Records, 2000)
Down to Believing (Proper Records, 2015)
With Keb' Mo'
Keep It Simple (Sony, 2004)
With Craig Morgan
This Ole Boy (Black River, 2012)
With Willie Nelson
To All the Girls... (Legacy Recordings, 2013)
First Rose of Spring (Legacy Recordings, 2020)
A Beautiful Time (Legacy Recordings, 2022)
With Joe Nichols
III (Universal Music, 2005)
With Stevie Nicks
In Your Dreams (Reprise Records, 2011)
24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault (Reprise Records, 2014)
With Chris Norman
Chris Norman (Polydor Records, 1994)
With John Oates
1000 Miles Of Life (Phunk Shui Records, 2008)
Good Road to Follow (Elektra Records, 2014)
With Anders Osborne
Buddha & The Blues (Back on Dumaine Records, 2019)
With Jake Owen
Barefoot Blue Jean Night (RCA Records, 2011)
With Orianthi Panagaris
Heaven in This Hell (Robo Records, 2013)
With Lee Roy Parnell
Midnight Believer (Vector Records, 2017)
With Dolly Parton
Blue Smoke (Dolly Records, 2014)
With Kellie Pickler
100 Proof (BNA Records, 2012)
With Kim Richey
Kim Richey (Mercury Records, 1995)
With Lionel Richie
Tuskegee (Mercury Records, 2012)
With LeAnn Rimes
Blue (Curb Records, 1996)
Spitfire (Curb Records, 2013)
With Bob Seger
Ride Out (Capitol Records, 2014)
I Knew You When (Capitol Records, 2017)
With Blake Shelton
Blake Shelton (Warner Bros. Records, 2001)
Pure BS (Warner Bros. Records, 2007)
With Ashton Shepherd
Sounds So Good (MCA Records, 2008)
With Jessica Simpson
In This Skin (Columbia Records, 2003)
With Joss Stone
LP1 (Surfdog Records, 2011)
Never Forget My Love (Bay Street, 2022)
With Livingston Taylor
There You Are Again (Coconut Bay, 2005)
Last Alaska Moon (Coconut Bay, 2010)
With Josh Turner
Everything Is Fine (MCA Records, 2007)
Deep South (MCA Records, 2017)
Country State of Mind (MCA Records, 2020)
With Bonnie Tyler
Rocks and Honey (Warner Bros. Records, 2013)
With Roch Voisine
Coup de tête (Les Disques Star Records, 1994)
Americana (RCA Records, 2008)
With Joe Walsh
Got Any Gum? (Warner Bros. Records, 1987)
Ordinary Average Guy (Epic Records, 1991)
With Holly Williams
Here with Me (Mercury Records, 2009)
With Brian Wilson
No Pier Pressure (Capitol Records, 2015)
With Gretchen Wilson
All Jacked Up (Epic Records, 2005)
With Lee Ann Womack
Some Things I Know (MCA Records, 1998)
I Hope You Dance (MCA Records, 2000)
With Chely Wright
Never Love You Enough (MCA Records, 2001)
With Trisha Yearwood
Jasper County (MCA Records, 2005)
Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love (Big Machine Records, 2007)
PrizeFighter: Hit After Hit (RCA Records, 2014)
With Neil Young
This Note's For You (Reprise Records, 1988)
Freedom (Reprise Records, 1989)
Prairie Wind (Reprise Records, 2005)
Living with War (Reprise Records, 2006)
Chrome Dreams II (Reprise Records, 2007)
Fork in the Road (Reprise Records, 2009)
With Robin Zander
Countryside Blvd (Big3 Records, 2011)
References
External links
Chad Cromwell, Autobiographical Notes
Chad Cromwell, Legends Rock TV Show
Chad Cromwell, Discography on Discogs.com
1957 births
American rock drummers
American country drummers
American session musicians
Living people
Musicians from Paducah, Kentucky
Rock musicians from Kentucky
Country musicians from Kentucky
20th-century American drummers
American male drummers
20th-century American male musicians