---
title: Tony “Thunder” Smith
description: Tony “Thunder” Smith, the drummer who held Lou Reed’s drum chair longer than anyone, and played beside Sarth Calhoun in Reed’s band from 2008 to 2011.
url: https://www.sarth.net/conspirators/tony-thunder-smith/
credit: Tony “Thunder” Smith and Sarth Calhoun played together in Lou Reed’s band: the spring 2008 U.S. tour, Lollapalooza 2009, and the 2011 European tour.
author: Sarth Calhoun
---
[Conspirators](/conspirators/) / Tony “Thunder” Smith

Conspirator

# Tony “Thunder” Smith

Lou Reed’s longest-serving drummer. We played in Lou’s band together from 2008 to 2011.

[Tony “Thunder” Smith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Thunder_Smith) is an American drummer, born in San Francisco, who played with Malo and on Santana’s *Welcome* (1973) before moving to New York for the Jan Hammer Group, and then spent four years as Serge Gainsbourg’s drummer. He held Lou Reed’s drum chair longer than any other drummer, recording *Set the Twilight Reeling* (1996), *Perfect Night: Live in London* (1998), *Ecstasy* (2000), *The Raven* (2003) and *Berlin: Live at St. Ann’s Warehouse* (2008). He is Professor of Percussion at Berklee College of Music.

![Tony “Thunder” Smith at the drums behind Lou Reed, on an outdoor stage.](/images/conspirator-tony-thunder-smith.jpg)

Tony “Thunder” Smith with Lou Reed, Hop Farm Festival, Kent, 2011. Photo: Man Alive!, [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lou_Reed_and_Tony_Thunder_Smith.jpg).

The credit: Tony “Thunder” Smith and Sarth Calhoun played together in Lou Reed’s band: the spring 2008 U.S. tour, Lollapalooza 2009, and the 2011 European tour.

## Lou Reed’s band

He was the drummer in the band around Lou at the first rehearsals at SIR in April 2008 and on the [spring 2008 U.S. tour](/conspiracies/lou-reed-spring-2008-tour/), at [Lollapalooza 2009](/transmissions/lou-reed-live-at-lollapalooza-2009/), and in the eight-piece band on the [2011 European tour](/conspiracies/lou-reed-2011-european-tour/), where I was on Continuum and Kyma.

![Lou Reed’s band on a club stage under red curtains, left to right: Rob Wasserman, Mike Rathke, Lou Reed, Sarth Calhoun, Tony “Thunder” Smith, John Zorn, Steve Hunter, Kevin Hearn.](/images/mwm-5113.jpg)

Lou Reed’s band at the Highline Ballroom, New York, May 5, 2008, the last night of the spring tour, with John Zorn. Photo: Mark McGauley.

Left to right: Rob Wasserman, Mike Rathke, Lou Reed, Sarth Calhoun, Tony “Thunder” Smith, John Zorn, Steve Hunter, Kevin Hearn. Highline Ballroom, May 5, 2008. Named by Sarth Calhoun, September 23, 2026. Photo: Mark McGauley.

The profile is from public sources, linked where they appear. What we made is the record on this site and the sources cited above.