How BROOKS WACKERMAN Ended Up As The Drummer for AVENGED SEVENFOLD

Brooks Wackerman has quite the resumé – Suicidal Tendencies, BAD RELIGION, and most recently, Avenged Sevenfold. After 13 years with Bad Religion, Wackerman technically joined Avenged Sevenfold in 2014, and has been with the band ever since.

Ahead of their extensive tour, spanning both festival and headline dates, Wackerman had a chat with Stevo32, elaborating on how Wackerman came to be involved with Avenged Sevenfold.

A7X started enquiring with a mutual friend as to whether or not Wackerman would have an interest in playing with them. “It was just so outta – maybe not left field, but when you get that call and you just start envisioning yourself in a completely different light,” Wackerman described (transcribed via Blabbermouth), “I [hadn’t] felt [that] way in a while.”

“I was grateful for all my work with Bad Religion,” Wackerman makes sure to emphasise, before continuing, “But I was in the band for 15 years, and I wanted to spread the wings a little wider, too, musically.”

So, after being told by A7X that they wanted Wackerman to collaborate on their upcoming record at the time – The Stage (2016), Wackerman jumped in head first. Now equipped with the opportunity to write and contribute to the songwriting process as the writers for Bad Religion “were Brett [Gurewitz] and Greg [Graffin], as they should be, because they created the sound.” And while he’s not saying “Bad Religion didn’t allow me creativity – they did,” but they didn’t quite offer the same creativity Avenged Sevenfold were going to. Wackerman could apply “the Latin beat that I practiced when I was 12” in a song – “the rhythmic possibilities, the creative possibilities [were endless]…”

Working with A7X from 2014 onwards, former Avenged Sevenfold drummer Arin Iljey was let go in 2015, Wackerman was introduced as his replacement. There was a bit of drama surrounding that departure, but the band weren’t phased as they released the record, and have kept trucking on since. Their most recent release was back in 2023.

You can check out Avenged Sevenfold‘s current tour dates below – unfortunately (or, possibly fortunately), most of them are outside the US.

Summer EU Tour Dates
June 4th – Istanbul, TR @ Lifepark Istanbul
June 7th – Kallithéa, GR @ Release Athens
June 11th – Hradec Králové, CR @ Rock for People
June 12th – Interlaken, CH @ Greenfield Festival
June 14th – Vienne, FR @ Théâtre Antique
June 16th – Sesto San Giovanni, IT @ Kozel Carrponte
June 18th – Ljubljana, SI @ Krizanka
June 19th – Budapest, HU @ Budapest Park
June 21st – Berlin, DE @ Zitadelle Spandau
June 22nd – Wrocław, Poland @ Hala Stulecia
June 24th – Vilnius, Lithuania @ Lukiškių Kalèjimas 2.0
June 26th – Seinäjoki, FI @ Provinssi Festival
June 28th – Oslo, Norway @ Tons Of Rock
June 29th – Rättvik, SE @ Dalhalla

US Tour Dates
August 31st – Chicago, IL @ Soldier Field (w/ System of a Down, Wisp, Polyphia)
September 1st – Chicago, IL @ Soldier Field (w/ System of a Down, Wisp, Polyphia)
September 18th – Louisville, KY @ Louder Than Life

South American Tour Dates
September 25th – Buenos Aires, AR @ Movistar Arena
September 28th – Santiago, CL @ Movistar Arena
October 2nd – Curitiba, BR @ Pedreira Paulo Leminski
October 4th – São Paulo, BR @ Allianz Parque
October 8th – Bogotá, CO @ Movistar Arena
October 11th – Ciudad De México, MX @ Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú
October 14th – San Juan, PR @ Coliseo de Puerto Rico