Age: 71
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Biography
Hector Juan Samuel "Tico" Torres (born October 7, 1953) is an American drummer and percussionist for the rock band Bon Jovi. He also has taken lead vocals on a song on the box set 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong, as well as backing vocals on a couple of the early Bon Jovi tracks, notably "Born to Be My Baby" and "Love for Sale".
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Childhood
Hector Juan Samuel Torres was born on October 7, 1953, in New York, and brought up in the Colonia section of Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. His parents, Emma and Héctor, immigrated from Cuba in 1948. He attended John F. Kennedy Memorial High School in Iselin. He has a sister called Opi.
Music career
Torres was a jazz fan as a youth and studied music with Joe Morello. In 1969 he played drums for the psychedelic rock band Six Feet Under. Before joining Bon Jovi in 1983 he had already played live with Joe Cerisano's R-Band aka Silver Condor in the New Jersey Rock circuit, and in the studio with Franke and the Knockouts, Pat Benatar, Chuck Berry, Cher, Alice Cooper and Stevie Nicks, recording a total of 26 albums with these artists. Tico was also one of the drummers auditioned by Kiss in 1980 after original drummer Peter Criss left the band.
Torres was the original drummer for the glam rock band T. Roth and Another Pretty Face and played on their debut album Face Facts.
Bon Jovi
Main article: Bon JoviTico met Alec John Such while playing with a band called Phantom's Opera and it was this friendship which led to him joining Bon Jovi. When Jon Bon Jovi, the lead singer of the band, approached Torres, he was put off by the fact that Jon was 9 years younger than he was. Regardless of this he said it was Jon's charismatic appearance and watching Jon perform that attracted him to join the band.
Equipment
Tico Torres is an endorser of DW Drums and hardware since 2013, previously he had endorsed by Pearl Drums for over 25 years. He uses Signature & 2oo2 Paiste cymbals, Ahead Tico Torres signature drum sticks/gloves/griptape, Remo drumheads, Coated Emperor X on the snare (Ambassador *resonate* Snare), Coated Emperors on (top) and Clear Ambassadors (on resonate toms/floor toms), Coated Powerstroke 3 on the bass drums 22 x 18 x'2 (Powerstroke Ebony (Remo), Pro-Mark Thunder & Hot Rods, DW Drum Pedals (DW 5000 and 9000 series). When the band was on Oprah in 2005 in the studio recordings he was using Pearl Eliminator PowerShifter Bass Pedals and Hi-Hats but when performing live he still uses DW Drum Pedals, LP percussion and Beato bags.
Current Kit Setup
DW Collector Series Drums, Cherry Shells (black finish with Tico's custom artwork)
- 22x18" bass drums x2 with coated p3 bass batters
- 12x9" rack tom with coated emperor
- 13x10" rack tom with coated emperor
- 16x16" floor tom with coated emperor
- 18x16" floor tom with coated emperor
- 14x6.5" maple snare drum with coated emperor x
Paiste Signature & 2oo2 Cymbals
the cymbals are listed below are from left to right
- signature 16" power crash
- signature 10" splash
- signature 14" heavy hi-hat
- signature 18" power crash
- signature 16" power crash
- signature 20" power crash
- 2oo2 22" power ride
- 2oo2 20" china
- signature 18" power crash
LP percussion
- black cyclops tambourines with dimpled brass jingles x2
- black stealth jam blocks x2
- lu 90 bar chimes (custom black finish)
Previous Gear
January 2008 - April 2013
Pearl Reference Series Drums, piano black with custom artwork
- 22x18" bass drums x2 with coated p3 bass batters
- 12x9" rack tom with coated emperor
- 13x10" rack tom with coated emperor
- 16x16" floor tom with coated emperor
- 18x16" floor tom with coated emperor
- 14x6.5" snare drum with coated emperor x
Paiste Signature & 2oo2 Cymbals
the cymbals are listed below are from left to right
- signature 16" power crash
- signature 10" splash
- signature 14" heavy hi-hat
- signature 18" power crash
- signature 16" power crash
- signature 20" power crash
- 2oo2 or signature 22" power ride
- 2oo2 20" china
- signature 18" power crash
LP percussion
- black cyclops tambourines with dimpled brass jingles x2
- black stealth jam blocks x2
- lu 90 bar chimes (custom black finish)
November 2005 - August 2007
Pearl Masterworks Series Drums, piano black with custom red pinstriping
- 22x18" bass drums x2 with coated p3 bass batters
- 12x8" rack tom with coated emperor
- 13x9" rack tom with coated emperor
- 16x16" floor tom with coated emperor
- 18x16" floor tom with coated emperor
- 14x6.5" sensitone aluminum snare drum or sensitone brass snare drum with coated emperor x
- 14x5" sensitone brass snare drum with coated emperor x
Paiste Signature & 2oo2 Cymbals
the cymbals are listed below are from left to right
- signature 16" power crash
- signature 10" splash
- signature 14" heavy hi-hat
- signature 18" power crash
- signature 16" power crash
- signature 20" power crash
- 2oo2 or signature 22" power ride
- 2oo2 20" china
- signature 18" power crash
LP percussion
- black cyclops tambourines with dimpled brass jingles x2
- medium pitched jam blocks x2
- lu 90 bar chimes
September 2002 - September 2005
Pearl Masterworks Series Drums, red sparkle with chrome hardware
- 22x18" bass drums x2 with coated p3 bass batters
- 12x9" rack tom with coated emperor
- 13x9" rack tom with coated emperor
- 16x16" floor tom with coated emperor
- 18x18" floor tom with coated emperor
- 14x6.5" Pearl Tico Torres Signature snare drum, Pearl sensitone brass snare drum 14x6.5", Pearl sensitone phosphor bronze snare drum 14x6.5" and a Pearl sensitone aluminum snare drum 14x6.5" all with coated emperor x heads
Paiste Signature & 2oo2 Cymbals
the cymbals are listed below are from left to right
- signature 16" power crash
- signature 10" splash
- signature 14" heavy hi-hat
- signature 18" power crash
- signature 14" full crash
- signature 20" power crash
- 2oo2 or signature 22" power ride
- 2oo2 20" china
- signature 16" power crash
LP percussion
- black cyclops tambourines with dimpled brass jingles x2
- medium pitched jam blocks x2
- lu 90 bar chimes
Percussion/Acoustic Gear When Bon Jovi was having more acoustic gigs in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Tico had to use percussion and lower volume drum set componets with the acoustic guitars, So he used a Pearl 13" piccolo snare with a Remo coated ambassador for "Love For Sale" and "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead". He also used various LP tambourines, shakers, maracas, chimes, and congas for songs like "Blood on Blood", "Livin' on a Prayer", and "Wanted Dead or Alive". He include some of his Paiste cymbals and he usually had a 10" splash and either a 16" or 18" crash. He used Pro-Mark rods and he also used Pearl hardware.
Art
Known as "The Hitman," Tico discovered another talent: painting. He has exhibited his art since 1994. The successful first show was at the Ambassador Galleries in Soho, New York. Tico is a self-taught painter, who paints expressive pictures which show scenes from everyday life and the life with the band.
His painting talent was shown in one of the three videos made for the single "Who Says You Can't Go Home." There is a scene in one of the videos showing Jon Bon Jovi, David Bryan, and Richie Sambora painting a wall of a house a solid color, while Tico is at the other end of the room, painting an extravagant picture of a house surrounded by a multi-colored heart on the same wall. His art can be found at http://www.walnutst.com/.
He also owns a fashion line for babies called Rock Star Baby (selling baby clothing, strollers, soft toys, jewelry and furniture, etc.), which is viewable at http://www.rockstarbaby.com
Personal life
Tico and his first wife divorced soon after the formation of Bon Jovi in 1983. In 1996, Torres married Czech-born model Eva Herzigová in Sea Bright, New Jersey. The ceremony was attended by their closest friends and family including Donald Trump and the members of Bon Jovi. The band serenaded Eva and her husband with the hit single "Always" during the dance. Their marriage ended two years later. Tico married Maria Alejandra in September 2001, his third marriage. They have a son, Hector Alexander, born on January 9, 2004.
Discography
Bon Jovi
Main article: Bon Jovi discography
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Richie Sambora
- Studio albums
- Stranger in This Town (1991)
T. Roth and Another Pretty Face
- Face Facts (1980)
[ Source: Wikipedia ]
Get in touch with Tico Torres at FanPal • 2024