Bun E. Carlos

Brad Carlson (born June 12, 1950), better known by the stage name Bun E. Carlos, is the original drummer for American rock band Cheap Trick. He recorded and performed with the band from 1973 to 2010. Carlos was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 as a member of Cheap Trick.

Carlson was born in Rockford, Illinois in 1951 or 1953. to Edwin and Violet (née Nelles) Carlson. Carlson is the third of six children. He has two older siblings (Kurt and Jan) and three younger ones (Mark, Gini, and Edwin). Carlson's elder brother, Kurt, was a major in the United States Army Reserve when, on June 14, 1985, TWA Flight 847 was hijacked by members of Hezbollah. He was beaten and was held for 17 days aboard the aircraft in Beirut, Lebanon.

Carlson attended Lincoln Junior High School and graduated from Guilford High School, where his fellow students included Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson. Carlson's friendship with Nielsen began in 1963. Carlson and Nielsen met after Carlson's sister, Jan, came home from school one day and said Nielsen was throwing rocks at her. Carlson played football in the fall of 1966 in his sophomore year. He quit the team because he preferred to play music (and be paid for it) than sit on the bench for an entire football game.

Carlson came from a family with extensive musical interests. Carlson family oral history says that Carlson's great-grandfather was a drummer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Carlson's father played the accordion, his mother played keyboards and several other instruments, and his brother Kurt was a drummer in the Guilford High School band.

Carlson did not start paying attention to music until about 1962 or 1963, when songs like "The Twist," "Return to Sender" and "Sugar Shack" became chart toppers. He initially taught himself to play piano, but when The Beatles' single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" received radio airplay in the United States, Carlson became a fan and decided to switch to drums. For his 14th birthday, his mother bought him a drum kit from Ralf Nielsen Music House in Rockford, a store owned by Rick Nielsen's father. He began taking formal lessons, but was frustrated by having to constantly change the sticking instructions because he was left-handed. Carlson gave up formal lessons and instead taught himself to play the drums by playing along with songs on the radio or jukebox. He was particularly impressed by the drumming of Ginger Baker, co-founder of the British rock band Cream.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.