Taught by his father at the age of 3, John Blackwell attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, leaving the school in 1995 to play with the acclaimed funk band, Cameo. After moving to Los Angeles he played with Patti Labelle and appeared on her Grammy Award Winning album Live! One Night Only. Blackwell also spent over a decade with Prince, joining his band The New Power Generation in 2000. One of the hardest working drummers in the industry, John continues to perform with leaders in music, including Justin Timberlake, P. Diddy, Japanese Pop Stars Crystal Kay, Double (Takako), Arashi, Chinese Pop Star Xu Wei and many others.