Warren Cuccurullo
| Warren Cuccurullo | |
|---|---|
Cuccurullo performing in 2009
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Warren Bruce Cuccurullo |
| Born |
December 8, 1956 Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Genres | Alternative rock, electronica, synthpop, progressive rock, electro-industrial, experimental rock, ambient |
| Occupations | Musician, singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, body builder |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion, sitar |
| Years active | 1976–present |
| Associated acts | Frank Zappa, Missing Persons, Duran Duran, TV Mania, Chicanery |
| Website | cuccurullo |
Warren Bruce Cuccurullo (born December 8, 1956, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American rock musician who first worked with Frank Zappa during the 1970s. He was also a founding member of Missing Persons in the 1980s. In 1986, Cuccurullo joined Duran Duran, becoming a long term member of the band until 2001.
Warren Bruce Cuccurullo is the son of Jerry and Ellen Cuccurullo, the oldest child of four. He has two brothers, Jerry and Robert and a sister, Stephanie. His Italian-American heritage has its roots in Nocera Inferiore in Campania, Italy, and he also has some Greek ancestry. He grew up in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn, and began playing drums and guitar as a young child. He graduated from Canarsie High School in 1974.
Cuccurullo has one adopted child, Mayko Cuccurullo (born 1983) who lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who is actually the son of Claudia Bueno (Warren's former longtime girlfriend). Mayko is featured in the Duran Duran video Breath After Breath, filmed in Argentina in 1993 and contributed some minor vocal work on the N'Liten Up project.
Cuccurullo returned to the United States in 2001 and lives in Venice, California. His current focus is on musical projects having to do with film scores.
In his teen years, Cuccurullo became a devoted fan of Frank Zappa and began traveling to every show within 500 miles of his Brooklyn home. During the mid-1970s, he befriended several members of Zappa's band, including Terry Bozzio and Patrick O'Hearn. Over the next three years, he appeared with the band on stage at a couple of shows as well as in the 1979 Zappa film Baby Snakes (filmed October 1977). He impressed Frank Zappa by knowing the guitar parts to every Zappa song in the catalog, including the strangest sounds and most bizarre time signatures.
In December 1978, at the age of 22, Cuccurullo was invited to audition as a guitarist for Zappa's new road band, in which many members were replaced (including Bozzio and O'Hearn). Several shows on the early 1979 "Human Jukebox" European/Asian tour were recorded for Zappa's live albums. After the tour, Cuccurullo returned to the studio with Zappa to work on the Joe's Garage albums, for which he provided rhythm guitar and several vocal parts. Terry Bozzio's wife Dale Bozzio also contributed vocal parts to the album. Cuccurullo and Dale Bozzio began writing songs together, and eventually they convinced Terry Bozzio that the three of them should launch their own band.
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