Sandy West (
July 10,
1959 –
October 21,
2006) (age 47) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and drummer. She was hailed by fans and critics alike to be a groundbreaking musician, as a drummer
[Sandy West: Milestones (TIME Magazine. October 29, 2006)] She was the first female drummer to garner widespread popularity and critical acclaim
[USA Today October 24, 2006] in the rock music arena, and one of the founding members of
The Runaways, a groundbreaking teenage all-girl band who performed proto-punk and
Rock and Roll in the 1970s.
Early life
Sandy was born in
Long Beach and raised in
Huntington Beach, California, and was the quintessential 'California girl', splitting her time equally between
surfing and
skiing. When she was 9 years old, her grandfather bought her a drum kit, and being an avid fan of rock and roll acts of the 1960s and 1970s, she began practicing rock music immediately and regularly. She proved to have a natural talent and quickly became a proficient drummer.
