Four time GRAMMY® winner Antonio Sánchez was a gymnast on Mexico’s Junior National Team, a conservatory-trained classical pianist, the composer and performer of the score for the Oscar-winning film Birdman and is one of the most inventive and heralded drummers on the planet today.
Born in Mexico City, Antonio Sánchez began playing the drums at age five and began to perform professionally in his early teens in Mexico’s rock, jazz and Latin scenes.
After pursuing a degree in classical piano at Mexico’s National Conservatory he enrolled in Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude.
Shortly after moving to New York City in 1999, Antonio was scooped-up by Pat Metheny, for whom he recorded nine albums and toured for 18 years. He has also performed with Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Michael Brecker, Charlie Haden — among others — and on several occasions he was named Modern Drummer’s “Jazz Drummer of the Year.”
Antonio’s popularity soared when he scored Alejandro Iñárritu’s film Birdman, winner of four Academy Awards including Best Picture.
Recent projects include his critically acclaimed The Meridian Suite, his sociopolitical electronica & drums exploration Bad Hombre and Lines in the Sand in which Sánchez turns his political anger into a moving musical statement as a protest against injustice in our current political climate and as a tribute to every immigrant’s journey.
In Spring 2022 Warner Bros Records released SHIFT (Bad Hombre Vol II). The much-anticipated recording features Sánchez collaborating with artists ranging from Trent Reznor to Lila Downs…from Meshell Ndegeocello to Dave Matthews and more.