David Lombardo is a Cuban-American musician who has an estimated net worth of $12 million. He is the drummer and co-founding member of the American thrash metal band Slayer. He has performed with the Slayer on seven albums where he received critical praise. Two of these albums are the groundbreaking 1986 release Reign in Blood and their 2006 release Christ Illusion. His music career has spanned for more than 25 years. He has been involved in the production of 29 commercial recordings extending over a number of genres with bands including Grip Inc., Fantomas, Philm, Testament, Apocalypta, and Voodoocult in addition to his band.
Nicknamed “David The Drummer”, Lombardo was born in Havana, Cuba on February 16, 1965. At the age of eight, he bought a set of bongo drums with a Santana record for show and tell in school. He played the bongos along with the record. This experience has inspired his musical interest in drums and he was prompted to join the school band where he played the marching drum. When he was already in high school, he had established himself as a drummer on the rise. He performed with several bands and performed regularly with this group Escape in the late 70s and early 80s.
David Lombardo formed the band Slayer in the early 80s and it started to gain widespread notice. However, he left the band in the early 90s so he can be present for the birth of his first child. In 2011, he returned to the Slayer lineup and has continued to record and tour with the band while he was also recording track with his side project PHILM.
Lombardo is most widely known as a very aggressive heavy metal drummer though his exceptional skill far surpasses the title. Drummer World gave him the title “the godfather of double bass” with his “astonishingly innovative” use of the drums. He has a significant influence on the metal scene and has inspired many modern metal drummers, especially trash metal and death metal.