Longtime Elvis Presley drummer DJ Fontana has died

DJ Fontana, a rock 'n' roll pioneer who rose from strip joints in his native Shreveport, Louisiana, to the heights of musical history as Elvis Presley's first and longtime drummer, has died at 87, his wife said.

Karen Fontana told The Associated Press yesterday that her husband died in his sleep in Nashville on Wednesday night. She said he'd been suffering complications from breaking his hip in 2016.

"He was loved by everybody all over the world. He treated everybody like everybody was his friend," she said. Presley's former wife, Priscilla Presley, issued a statement calling Fontana "a tremendously talented musician and a wonderful man."
"He was my hero, and he made me become a drummer," Weinberg, Bruce Springsteen's longtime drummer, told the AP during a telephone interview yesterday. "I was 5 years old when I saw him and Elvis and Scotty and Bill play 'Hound Dog' on television and it just swept me away."
"He told me one day, he said, 'You know, I wish I wasn't Elvis.' And that struck me funny even back then. You know he kinda wanted to get away for a while. I think he should have retired for about seven or eight years, and then come back you know. And then he might still be with us."
Fontana also played on Starr's solo album "Beaucoups of Blues," and worked with country artist Webb Pierce and rockabilly star Gene Vincent, among others. More recently, he and Moore were joined by Helm, Keith Richards and other guests for the 1997 Presley tribute album "All the King's Men."