Tony Richards dies | W.A.S.P.'s first drummer

Tony Richards, the original drummer of W.A.S.P., has died. He was 69.

He’s the drummer on the band’s 1984 debut, the record that put W.A.S.P. on the map. Then he left before the tour that made them famous.

So who was he, and why does his old bandleader still talk about losing him? Let’s take a look.

What has been announced?

Blackie Lawless shared the news on W.A.S.P.’s social media this week. “The entire W.A.S.P. Camp are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our original drummer, Tony Richards,” he wrote.

No cause of death has been given, and no date. We won’t guess at either.

From Dante Fox to W.A.S.P.

Richards was born on 19 June 1957. Before W.A.S.P., he played in the Los Angeles band Dante Fox, the group that later became Great White.

He joined W.A.S.P. in 1982, in the band’s earliest days. The Los Angeles metal scene was crowded with bands chasing the same record deals, and W.A.S.P. stood out with a shock-rock stage show that was hard to ignore.

In his tribute, Lawless remembered a band that started out as four very strong personalities. Richards held his own among them, and Lawless said his personality was infectious.

The debut album

W.A.S.P. came out on Capitol in August 1984, and Richards plays drums on all of it.

“I Wanna Be Somebody”, “L.O.V.E. Machine” and “School Daze” all come from it, and the band have toured the whole album for its 40th anniversary.

If you play in a heavy rock band, it’s worth a listen with the drums in mind. It’s straight-ahead metal drumming that serves the song.

Why did he leave?

Richards left W.A.S.P. at the start of the 1984-85 tour for the debut album. Steve Riley, later of L.A. Guns, took over the drum stool and played on the next two records, The Last Command and Inside the Electric Circus.

So Richards made the album, and someone else took it on the road. That touring is what made the band’s name.

Lawless, for his part, has never pretended the change was painless. In his tribute he said Richards “was absolutely equal to any of the others that were in the band”, and that losing him wounded the band. “His ability to play made him really who he was,” he wrote.

Tributes

Former W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes posted his own tribute. He called Richards “my friend and one of the nicest fella[s] you could know”, according to Loudwire.

It’s a sad week for a band that has lost a lot of drummers. Richards is the third former W.A.S.P. drummer to die, after Frankie Banali in 2020 and Steve Riley in 2023.

Final thoughts

Tony Richards only made one album with W.A.S.P., but it’s the one the band are still built on. Not many drummers can say a record they made in their twenties was still being played in full forty years later.

Put the debut on this weekend and listen to the drums. Then explore more of the players who shaped the genre on our metal drummers hub.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends.