The 'Forrest Gump' of Drummers: The Story of Zoro

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But before he was a renowned drummer, he was a poor kid from California named Daniel Donnelly. Let's get into the story. Take it away, Zorro. My life is very much like Forrest Gump. All the things that were not supposed to happen to Forrest happened. If you remember in the movie, you know, he's in the White House with Elvis. All these amazing things to this kid, the unlikely kid.

That was pretty much me. My mother, Maria, had the enormous task of raising seven children alone in the area known as Compton, the hood. So I was straight out of Compton like the rap song says. She was an immigrant. She actually came from an aristocratic family. She was the daughter of a Supreme Court justice.

She had married my father about six months of age. He took the only car we had and abandoned us. So life was very difficult. We moved around a tremendous amount because we were getting evicted for either being late with the rent. And back in those days in the 60s, they could kick you out if you had too many people.

All that has changed now. But my mother tried to hold down as many jobs as she could, but it still wasn't enough. So we struggled a lot just to make ends meet. In fact, there were times when we moved when there was no money for a U-haul or anything to move from one apartment to the next. So I would use literally my red Radio Flyer wagon. And we could load up furniture on there if you stack it a certain way.

And me and my brothers would hoist it and haul it down the street a couple miles to the next place. But at the same time, my mother had this incredible faith. She had this vision and dream.

And something pretty amazing happened during when I was going into the second grade. Even though we were poor, she always dressed very dignified. And so she always carried herself as the person she grew up being in Mexico. So she never saw herself like that poor person. She carried herself in a different way even though we were poor. But she wore these scarves and she always looked fabulous in these scarves. And inside of me was like a budding rock star, which I had no idea was there at the time.

But there was this artistic flair about me. And I asked her if I could wear her orange silk scarf she was wearing. I asked her if I could wear it for my second grade school picture. And she looked down at me and she laughed. She said, No, mijo, you can't wear my scarf.

The boys will beat you up. This is not Mexico. This is the United States. But I wanted to wear it really bad. So I kept reasoning with her.

And I said, I don't care what they think. And so the scarf looks cool. Elvis Presley wears one.

Tom Jones wears one. I want to wear a scarf. I want to be different. And so she knelt down and tied her orange silk scarf around my neck. And then she whispered in my ear, she says, One day, my precious son, you will do something fantasmical with your life. Fantasmical was the word she used. It was a mixture between fantastic and amazing and wonderful.

And it was her own own word that she coined. But that's how she truly felt. So I grew up in this household full of love, even though we were in abject poverty. And I think during those years of being sort of heartbroken, because I remember trying to send letters to my father.

He never responded to any of the letters or the report cards or the pictures. So I grew up with this incredible sense of rejection. It would have been different if he like died or died in the war than I would just have to have dealt with.

This is no longer can be. But there was always this glimmer of hope inside this kid that something he would write or do or say would make his dad respond. And so he never did. And that sent a big spear of hurt, pain and rejection in me, which became the fuel later for me doing what I end up doing really. One great thing that happened during those days we lived in Compton was all of my brothers and sisters loved music. And so I grew up in a house where everyone was playing different records. All the great rock and roll records, soul music and Motown, jazz. My mother loved big band and mariachi.

And then I had the great fortune a neighbor bought us some tickets, took me to go see Diana Ross and the Supremes and the Temptations when I was seven or eight years old. And I got so excited from the concert that the next day I just wanted to play drums. You know, I was drawn to the rhythm of soul music. I didn't own any drums, but I was creative.

So I looked at my mother's cupboard and found some Tupperware canisters and some salad spoons and then looked at the trash cans and found like some Folgers coffee cans, almond roca cans. And I made a ghetto drum set, put it in my red radio flyer wagon, took it out on Compton Boulevard, turned on my transistor radio to Wolfman Jack. And put on soul music. And then I just commenced to pounding on the drums and all the people around me were digging it and throwing coins into my wagon. Something sparked in me that day and something came alive.

That rhythm and that drummer thing was calling to me. We end up moving to Grants Pass, Oregon. It's beautiful up there. There's mountains, rivers, lakes, trees, and they hated us because my mother was Mexican. But this is fully the American dream. My mother was tired of renting and she had this dream of having a house one day. So we scrimped and saved. All of us worked and put a little tiny piece of down payment on a little plot of land out in the middle of nowhere in the country. But we didn't have any money for a dwelling. We lived in our 1962 Chevy Nova, which was hot as hell in the summer.

No running water, no electricity, no outhouse. But I remember for all the harsh people that we met, we met some godly Christian people as well. And there was a reverend. His name was Reverend Ed Williamson. He is the one who let us shower at his house. And he also bought me and my brother's shoes. We didn't have the money to buy the shoes because we wanted to go on this church camping trip.

So he bought us the shoes. That's what allowed us to go to the summer church camp. And that's actually the camp where I gave my heart to Jesus.

So sometimes it takes just a pair of shoes to get a kid to find Jesus. And the most beautiful part of that story, I was in Grants Pass, preaching at a church and doing some book signings. And that pastor showed up 50 years later. And we had this beautiful full circle moment. And I had been tracking him down because I wanted him to know what I had done with my life and how many people I've affected because of the love of God he showed to me and my family.

So it was just the most beautiful thing. But anyway, so in Grants Pass is where I officially wanted to be a drummer. So I entered a talent show. They were putting a band together. And I just told them that I was a drummer, even though I didn't have any drums or had never played any drums, other than the ghetto drum set on the streets in Compton, which was not a drum set. So I conned my way into this band. And when we had the first rehearsal, they were like, Hey, where's your drums?

And I said, they're in the shop getting fixed, but I can play with my hands on the back of the chair just to keep time for you guys. And then I was like, Oh, my God, I can't do this. And so I faked my way through that until the day of the show, in which, of course, I wasn't going to have the drums.

I didn't own any. We found a big giant box. We ended up painting a drum set on it by hand with glitter and glue and all that stuff. And I ended up playing at the talent show on the box with my hands like I had been playing on the chair. The kids in the band were totally disappointed, but I just wanted to be in that talent show. And kind of what sparked that whole thing was watching Elvis Presley on the big televised satellite show he did called Elvis Aloha from Hawaii.

It was the world's first satellite broadcast broadcast all over the world at the same time. I watched the drummer behind Elvis. His name was Ronnie Tut. And when I saw him play, man, the guy looked like he was having so much fun. I'm like, that's what I want to do.

I want to do what that guy's doing. But then it kind of went dead for a while because I didn't get in the school band. And so at that point I needed a new dream. And so living in rural Oregon, everyone raised animals. We couldn't afford like cows and horses and goats and stuff. So I decided I was going to raise chickens because they were really cheap to buy and they were small. I wanted to be the world's greatest chicken farmer. Then I raised a couple of St. Bernard's and then one of them got loose and destroyed my entire chicken farm in one day. And that was sort of God's plan for my life. I needed a new dream. And so I thought about, I'm like, man, music's what I always really wanted to do, but I didn't know how to get into it.

I didn't own any drums. And you've been listening to the story of Zorro the drummer. His mother Maria raised seven kids alone in Compton, but his mom's incredible faith.

Well, it was always in evidence. When we return, more of Zorro the drummer's story here on Our American Stories. Today's podcast is brought to you by Ferguson Home. Whether you're a homeowner working on a remodel or a pro managing multiple projects, Ferguson Home is where great ideas become stunning spaces. My wife and I know firsthand because Ferguson Home was by our side when we built our beautiful house. All of our indoor and outdoor kitchen appliances, most of our kitchen and bathroom hardware came from Ferguson Home. They have the best selection of kitchen, bath and lighting products, all of which you can find online, or you can visit a local Ferguson Home showroom like we did and get one on one support from their amazing consultants who were there for us with their expert advice and support. They'll be there for you too.

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And you can learn more by following at what's up with hate. And we return to our American stories and the story of Daniel Donnelly, aka Zorro the drummer. When we last left off, Daniel had set aside his dream of being a drummer because while he couldn't afford a drum set, didn't get into the high school band and chickens were cheap, but he'd soon have a meeting with his school counselor that would change the course of his life. Let's return to the story. He said, what do you like?

I said, music. Can you find me a job that puts me around music? He goes, I'll see what I can do. A week later, he comes back and he goes, man, I'm sorry.

I couldn't find anything like what you wanted, but I did find you a job. And I'm like, well, what is it? He goes, well, it's a custodial position. And I'm like, okay, where? He goes right here. Right where? Right here at the school?

My school? He goes, yeah. Oh man, like that's like an embarrassing job. Like the school bell rings and all the kids are seeing you clean the toilets. But he said, well, the good news is you get to clean the band room.

So I was like, wow, great. I get to clean the band room. Well, at the end of the two hours of the job last 10 minutes, I reserved to sneak into the band room after I cleaned it. And then I would sneak on the drums and play.

Now I never took a lesson. I didn't own a set of drums, but I guess you could say I was given a gift because from day one, I could play. I would do that every day, you know, just daydream about being on stage one day. And then one day unbeknownst to me, the band director was in his office. He came out and startled me. He caught me drumming on the job. So he goes and says, wait right there and goes and get somebody else.

And I know I'm getting fired. So I think he's bringing my boss Clarence to tell him this kid's sneaking on the drums and playing. Instead of the swing choir director, he says, play again like you were playing. So I played and they both looked at each other and they're mumbling while I'm playing.

And then they said, stop kid. You've got an incredible amount of talent. You're like a rhythmic genius. I need you in the swing choir, the stage band, the marching band, all the school bands. And that is how my career started.

So I graduated high school. Then I auditioned for and landed a gig with a local band, Italian family, a bunch of brothers and a sister. They had an opportunity to go down to LA to audition for Disneyland as the house band at the Tomorrowland Terrace, which was the stage that would rise from the ground, like hydraulically. And then all of a sudden it would be up and the band would be playing. And they had held that job a couple of years earlier as the house band.

So I was certain we'd get the job again. And now I'd be back in my Southern California, LA area, living my dream of playing at Disneyland with a show band. For whatever reason, we auditioned and they didn't get the gig. It was heartbreaking. So I ended up quitting the band and I was ready to go back. And I called my mother, told her what had happened.

The band was falling apart. She said, she said, son, don't come back. I said, what do you mean?

She goes, if you come back, you'll never make it. She said, you have real talent, but you got to stick it out in LA. You've got to be there. That's where all the gigs are. That's where all your potential is. That's where opportunities are.

There's nothing for you up here. And I was scared as can be. I didn't really know what to do, but I listened to her advice and said, okay. And then I drove all around LA for a couple of few days, just, you know, Hollywood and Beverly Hills, trying to figure out the lay of the land, reading newspapers, looking for ads about drummers, just couldn't figure out where to meet the people, you know, hadn't been there since I was a kid. And I drove by Beverly Hills high school and I thought, wow, it looked like a college campus, like an Ivy league college campus, like Harvard or something. Gee, I wish I would have went to school like this. And then this idea came to me. I wanted to meet kids my age to play. So I went one day, spent the last bit of money I had on the latest Panasonic boombox.

And then I went to Beverly Hills high school one day in the afternoon and I got there around lunchtime. And I sat on the lawn of this pristine, well manicured lawn, a beautiful fall day. I'm going to play my boombox. I'm going to crank some earth wind and fire and the earth wind and fire platinum boombox. I'm bringing my practice pad and my sticks. I'm just going to play on the lawn.

And if there's any musicians within an ear shot, they're going to go, Hey, who's that new kid on the lawn? You know, I was trying to bring attention to myself. I wore like a yellow silk shirt, silk pants.

I had a Panama jack hat with a sash around it that was yellow, had some shades. I was like big bird out on that lawn. I was yellow and you're going to find me. Within 10 minutes of doing that, this kid comes walking up to me and goes, Hey man, are you new here? And I just said, yeah, because you know, I'm not really supposed to be there. You know, you're not supposed to be just walking in on the campus.

So I said, yeah. And then he was like, where'd you come from? I saw, I just transferred from Eugene. So I kind of pretended like I was a new student there.

He played the bass. His name was Kennedy and we became fast friends. And then another kid came up to me about 10 minutes later and it was the same thing. It was like, Hey man, you're new here.

You look like you got some mean chops. You know, I was practicing fast on the pad and his name was Lenny. Well later he turned out to be Lenny Kravitz and Kennedy turned out to be Kennedy Gordy, who was the son of Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records. It wasn't long after I met Kennedy Gordy, I'm up at the Gordy compound. And one day I see two Rolls Royces pulling up and Kennedy's the only kid I knew who had pinball machines and he had an arcade in his front living room, but you didn't have to put coins on them. So I was in there playing arcades by myself. He was upstairs in his bedroom taking a shower.

His dad was upstairs. Then the doorbell rings and I opened the doorbell and it's Michael Jackson and the Jackson five, which is another one of my favorite groups I grew up with. I had all their 45s.

I belong to the fan club. So I'm there trying to talk Michael and the brothers into jamming with me. I'm like, Michael, Jermaine, Jackie, Tito, Marlon, man, I know all your songs, man. ABC, the love you save, you know, one more chance.

I named them all, you know, I want you back. Michael just looked at me with this smile. He goes, oh kid, you got a lot of heart. But anyway, I ended up chatting with them for like 20 minutes, entertaining them while they were waiting for Berry Gordy to come downstairs. So it was like a dream come true. So all these like amazing things were happening. And then within a couple of years, I had got a gig with Philip Bailey, who was the lead singer of Earth, Wind and Fire, my favorite group, the group whose music I played on the boom box that day. And that's how everything started.

My biggest break that really put me on the map was in 1985. The group, the new edition was looking for a drummer and Lenny Kravitz had met the managers up at MCA Records and said, I got just the guy. And he goes, hold all your calls.

I got just the guy. But by that time the word had gotten out and now every other great drummer in LA had heard about it. It was like a cattle call. There's no way I'm going to get this gig over these guys. These guys are pros.

Lenny's like, no, come on, man. You're funkier than those guys. And you're cooler. You got an image, got a vibe. You get your Zorro vibe and your Zorro hat. So he talked me into believing I could do it. But through playing with them, I became a teen star on my own right.

So there were Zorro posters and centerfolds and the white teen magazine, black teen magazine, Latin teen magazine, every kind of teen magazine you can imagine. So my story is an overcoming story of epic proportions in the spirit of like Rocky. But it's about a musician with a dream and a family. It's about this mother and this faith that my mother had that God could still provide, that God could still do incredible things, that nothing could count us out. I adopted that same faith myself, and I've preached everywhere from San Quentin prison to the most hardened criminals in the world to Hollywood Oscar parties. Probably the most beautiful thing about my story, this overcoming story, I got to become the very thing that I never had.

I never had a loving father who mentored me, supported me, did anything for me in any way or shape or form. But I got to become a father to my children, the most important kind of success, the one that really matters when you're on your deathbed. And a special thanks to Zorro the drummer. His book is called Maria's Scarf. And by the way, as a final note, Zorro the drummer still wears a scarf to this very day when he plays, an homage to his mom.

The story of Zorro the drummer, an overcoming story of epic proportions here on Our American Stories. Okay, so we all need to get away from the world sometimes. Well, in the all new 2025 Nissan Murano, you don't even have to go anywhere. The Murano is the getaway.

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