Steve Rucker

Steve Rucker
Steve Rucker in 2015

Stephen "Steve" Rucker (born 2 March 1954) is an American musician and drummer who served as the drummer with many artists. His biggest and well known act was the Bee Gees. With the Bee Gees band, he appeared on The Tonight Show, Late Night with David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and a Royal Variety Performance for the Queen of England. Rucker appears on the Bee Gees' One Night Only recording and DVD. He is currently the Drumset Studies director of the University of Miami's Frost School of Music.

Originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, Rucker attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, and holds an Undergraduate Degree in Studio Music and Jazz and a master's degree in Jazz Performance from the University of Miami Frost School of Music.

From September 1974 until May 1975, Rucker toured with the Charlotte NC based band, Sugarcreek. During this period he became the musical arranger for the seven-piece horn band, and wrote and recorded their first single, "Runnin' Out Of Time".

Rucker moved to Miami, Florida in 1976. Soon after, he was voted "Best Jazz Performer" and "Most Versatile Artist" in South Florida polls. In the early 1980s, Rucker was a member of the Ross-Levine band, a ground-breaking jazz-fusion group. In addition to numerous appearances with them, he recorded "That Summer Something" and "Humidity".

While a member of Randy Bernsen's Ocean Sound Band in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he recorded tracks on "Paradise Citizens" and "Calling Me Back Home", and performed many concerts internationally, including a billing with Miles Davis. In 1992, he recorded "Blues Hat Dances 'Round Midnight" with Randy Bernsen and Onorino Tiburzi in Italy.

In 1990, he recorded "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" with Gloria Estefan. For many years, he performed nationwide with Ben Vereen, and appeared with Mr. Vereen with the Atlanta Symphony and the Dallas Symphony.