Jonathan Moffett
| Jonathan Moffett | |
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Moffett next to his drum kit for Cirque's Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour
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| Born |
Jonathan Phillip Moffett November 17, 1954 New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Other names | Sugarfoot, Foot (nicknamed by Michael Jackson) |
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| Years active | 1979–present |
| Partner(s) | Myra Hissami |
| Website | jmdb |
| Musical career | |
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| Labels | Envision Entertainment |
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Jonathan Phillip Moffett (born November 17, 1954), who goes by the stage name, "Sugarfoot", is an American drummer, songwriter and producer from New Orleans, Louisiana. Since 1979, he has collaborated with the Jackson family, particularly Michael Jackson, over the course of 30 years. Later, he performed with other notable musicians, such as Madonna, George Michael, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and many other artists.
Jonathan Moffett is the third son of a musical family of siblings. His two other brothers played the guitar and the bass guitar, while Jonathan's father encouraged him to drum. His influences are Zigaboo, Buddy Rich, Louis Bellson, Billy Cobham, James Brown, Stevie Wonder and other drummers, primarily from New Orleans.
He initially wanted to play the bass guitar long before drums. He was always acutely aware of the bass guitar parts in songs and mimicked them on the bass drum. Moffett was never musically trained and learned to play drums on his own by ear. He was nicknamed "Sugarfoot" for his quick, articulate, and pronounced bass drum work, which requires a lot of precision and stamina for a drummer. He plays 16th note, 32nd note, and 64th note figures energetically and fluidly within Rhythms, which is extremely difficult. Moffett started off his drumming career by performing locally with prominent bands within the region and at nightclubs as a young boy.
He came up with his signature move, the "one-handed cymbal catch", during a marathon practice session late one evening.
Moffett's professional career initially started with The Jacksons. In 1979, through serendipity, came across The Jackson's musical director, James McField, who told him they were auditioning for a new drummer. Though the final auditions were that day, he extended it for him, knowing how eager he was to play for the group. According to an article by Robyn Flans in Drummer Magazine in September 1984, Moffett said:
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Wikipedia