Dave Lombardo Says He Wants to Keep Drumming Into His 80s

Recording and performing music for a living, we don’t need to tell you, is a young person’s game. The great paradox, of course, is that musicians rarely have a significant safety net to fall back on (if they have one at all) — no insurance, no 401k, no savings to ride into the sunset — meaning most of them need to keep working until they die.

Which is fully what legendary metal drummer Dave Lombardo plans on doing. And he’s not even bummed about it! The man loves to drum, and he doesn’t ever plan on quitting.

In a recent chat with Ultimate Guitar, when asked what he hopes his legacy will be “on the day you hang up the drumsticks,” the Slayer co-founder replied:

“I’m not going to give up the drumsticks, man. Those motherfuckers are going to die with me. Shit, I don’t retire. Even with all the money in the world, you couldn’t get me to retire.

“I love what I do. I love music. Musicians don’t retire, they only move on to another band or something.”

He continued:

“I don’t believe in that word [retirement]. Buddy Rich… all those guys played until they were 80, you know? I think he played until he was 80. That’s just something I had in my mind ever since I was a kid, looking up to these older guys – Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich.

“Ed Shaughnessy wrote me a beautiful letter – we got to hang out – he played for years on the ‘Tonight Show’ with Johnny Carson. He played well into his later years. We love it. It’s good for our health. It’s good for our lungs and our upper body strength.”

Lombardo has stayed busy since leaving Slayer in 2013 with a number of projects, including the recent Mr. Bungle reunion, the Misfits, Suicidal Tendencies and Dead Cross.

The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo, a re-recording of Mr. Bungle’s 1986 demo (with some bonus tracks), came out on October 30. The band’s current line-up includes original members Mike Patton (Faith No More, vocals) Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, guitar), and Trevor Dunn (Tomahawk, bass), along with new additions Scott Ian (Anthrax, guitar) and Lombardo.