| Glen Sobel | |
| Genre: | Hard rock, progressive rock, heavy metal |
| Instrument: | Drums |
| Birth Date: | 27 December 1970[1] |
| Years Active: | 1993–present |
| Associated Acts: | Alice Cooper Hollywood Vampires Impellitteri Motley Crue Gary Hoey Jeff Scott Soto Beautiful Creatures Tony MacAlpine |
Glen Sobel (born December 27, 1970) is an American drummer who has performed and recorded in many different genres. Mainly known for being the drummer for Alice Cooper since 2011, Sobel has worked with other musicians/groups, including Mötley Crüe, Hollywood Vampires, Richie Sambora, Orianthi, Beautiful Creatures, Chris Impellitteri, Gary Hoey, Tony MacAlpine, Jennifer Batten, Paul Gilbert, Saga and Shark Island.
As a member of the house band at various events from 2011 to present, Sobel played behind such varied artists as Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Sammy Hagar, Johnny Depp,[2] Jim Carrey,[3] Rob Halford,[4] "Weird" Al Yankovic, Mike Myers, Sarah McLachlan, Michael McDonald,[5] Robbie Krieger, Kesha,[6] Arthur Brown[7] and others.
A native of Los Angeles, Sobel began playing drums at the age of eleven. He studied drums throughout high school whilst playing in marching bands, jazz bands and other bands outside of school, ultimately winning a large drum-off competition in Los Angeles at the age of 19. This soon led to his first pro gig playing for guitar virtuoso Tony MacAlpine. Sobel recorded one record with MacAlpine in 1993, entitled Madness, which featured jazz saxophone luminary Branford Marsalis.
Switching musical gears, Sobel took gigs with SX-10, a rap/rock hybrid band with Sen Dog of Cypress Hill which featured many other rap luminaries of the day such as Everlast and Kottonmouth Kings. Soon after, Sobel accepted an offer to become a band member of Warner Bros. Records artists Beautiful Creatures whose line-up also featured Joe Leste of Bang Tango and DJ Ashba of and Guns N' Roses. Beautiful Creatures participated in several tours in 2001 including Ozzfest, opening for Marilyn Manson and others.
The next few years saw Sobel playing on a number of tours and recording jobs including playing on the new version of "Heavy Action" (the Monday Night Football theme on ESPN) and touring with American Idol second runner up Elliott Yamin who scored a top ten smash in 2007.
Teaching jobs also followed with a faculty position in the drum department at Musician's Institute in Hollywood, which led to appearing and performing at various drum clinics and festivals in several countries such as Drum Daze[8] in Columbus, Ohio, the Laguna Drum Festival[9] in Mexico and various clinics throughout Asia and Europe.
In September 2010, Sobel got a last minute call to sub for an injured Matt Laug on the Vasco Rossi 2010 Indoor Tour of Italy. The tour saw crowds in excess of 40,000 people and Sobel filled in for five weeks.[10]
In October 2015 during Mötley Crüe's farewell tour, Sobel filled in for Tommy Lee, who was unable to perform due to tendinitis in his wrist. Sobel played drums in both Alice Cooper and Mötley Crüe for five consecutive shows while Lee was recovering from his injury.[11]
On January 21, 2017, Sobel performed with the Hollywood Vampires at the TEC Awards that honored Joe Perry with the Les Paul Award.[12]
When not on the road, Sobel plays around Los Angeles with various artists[13] including Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell's band, Sir Sodoff and the Trainwrecks.[14]