91-Year-Old Drummer on an Oxygen Tank

Posted February 13, 2009, 8:36 pm


It’s one of the most unusual and powerful collaborations of all-time. A 91-year-old drummer on an oxygen tank and a 62-year-old eccentric songwriter/filmmaker. Both are females and both are far from ordinary artists.

The songwriter/filmmaker is Allee Willis who despite the fact she can’t read music or play a single note wrote,  Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” and “Boogie Wonderland,” the Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance,” the theme song to TV’s Friends, “I’ll Be There for You,” the Pet Shop Boys/Dusty Springfield duet “What Have I Done to Deserve This,” and the music to the Broadway smash The Color Purple. Her songs have sold over 50 million records (click here to listen to her interview on The Growing Bolder Radio Show).

The drummer is Jerrie Thill, who began playing professionally at 18, working as a drummer, singer and bandleader in Chicago. From 1935 to 1938 she was the leader of an eight-piece, all-girl touring swing band, and in 1945 she moved to L.A. to become the in-house drummer at Hollywood's Flamingo night club.  Over the years she's performed on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" and made guest appearances on shows like "The Golden Girls," and "Married With Children."

Their collaboration has become one of the hottest viral videos on YouTube. Willis wrote the music for and directed the “Hey Jerrie” Video and Jerrie is the star. 

There are at two videos you need to see. The "Hey Jerrie” YouTube hit and a short interview with Allee Willis conducted by Eli Davidson, a nationally recognized life coach and award winning author.

"Hey Jerrie"

Interview With Allee Willis




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