Bun E. Carlos

Brad M. Carlson (born June 12, 1950), better known by the stage name Bun E. Carlos, is the original drummer for American rock band Cheap Trick.

The year of his birth is reportedly 1950, 1951, or 1953.

His parents were Edwin and Violet ( Nelles) Carlson.

Carlson was the third of six children.

He has two older siblings (Kurt and Jan) and three younger ones (Mark, Gini, and Edwin).

Carlson did not start paying attention to music until about 1962 or 1963, when songs like "The Twist," "Return to Sender" and "Sugar Shack" became chart toppers.

He initially taught himself to play piano, but when The Beatles' single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand", received radio airplay in the United States, Carlson became a fan and decided to switch to drums.

Carlson's friendship with Rick Nielsen began in 1963.

Carlson and Nielsen met after Carlson's sister, Jan, came home from school one day and said Nielsen was throwing rocks at her.

Carlson played football in the fall of 1966 in his sophomore year.

He quit the team because he preferred to play music (and be paid for it) than sit on the bench for an entire game.

Carlson came from a family with extensive musical interests.

Carlson family oral history says that Carlson's great-grandfather was a drummer in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Carlson's father played the accordion, his mother played keyboards and several other instruments, and his brother Kurt was a drummer in the Guilford High School band,

From 1966 to 1968, Carlson played in a band called The Pagans with several other high school friends.

The band released a single: the A-side was a cover of The Beatles' 1966 hit "Good Day Sunshine", and B-side a cover of Them "I Can Only Give You Everything."

The single received local radio airplay on WCFL in Chicago and WROK in Rockford and the band sold about 1,500 copies at local record stores, making The Pagans hometown celebrities.

The Pagans broke up, and Carlson played in another local band, Probe and the Lost Souls (which later changed its name to Albatross), in 1969.

Carlson enrolled at Rock Valley Junior College in 1969 to obtain an exemption to the draft.

He and Robin Zander, the future lead singer of Cheap Trick, were members of the same band for a brief period at this time.

Carlson also briefly toured in backup bands for Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and The Shirelles.

Meanwhile, Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson formed a band in 1969 and called it Fuse.

In 1970, Carlson became the band's drummer, and had changed his stage name to Bun E. Carlos.

Carlson toured Germany with the band, with Nielsen taking on the bassist's duties.

Carlson dropped out of college and in 1971 moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Nielsen and Petersson.

Fuse changed its name to Sick Man of Europe.

He recorded and performed with the band from 1973 to 2010.

In about May 1973, the members of Sick Man of Europe relocated to Rockford and the band broke up.

In June 1973, Carlos and Nielsen formed a new band to take over the gigs which Sick Man of Europe had booked.

Randy "Xeno" Hogan was hired as lead vocalist and Rick Szeluga as bassist.

The band continued to use the name Sick Man of Europe, but nightclub owners did not like the name.

Carlson's elder brother, Kurt, was a major in the United States Army Reserve when, on June 14, 1985, TWA Flight 847 was hijacked by terrorists belonging to Hezbollah.

He was brutally beaten (nearly to death) and was held for 17 days aboard the aircraft in Beirut, Lebanon.

Carlson attended Lincoln Junior High School and graduated from Guilford High School, where fellow students included Nielsen and Tom Petersson.

His mother gave him a Sonor drum kit for his 14th birthday.

He began taking formal lessons, but was frustrated by having to constantly change the sticking instructions because he was left-handed.

Carlson gave up formal lessons and instead taught himself to play the drums by playing along with songs on the radio or jukebox.

He was particularly impressed by the drumming of Ginger Baker, co-founder of the British rock band Cream.

Carlos was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 as a member of Cheap Trick.

Carlson was born in Rockford, Illinois, on June 12.