Rose lived in New Jersey until the age of 7, before he and his family moved back to Atlanta, GA. Rose's father was a guitarist and his mother, who followed the Raspberries in the 1970s, took her young son to see David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust tour, which he witnessed while sitting on the shoulders of a security guard. He credits his father with teaching him guitar and claimed that he was able to play Jimi Hendrix’s "If 6 Was 9" when he was three years old. Rose attended high school in St. Petersburg, FL, where he played in many garage bands, after which he went to the Musicians' Institute of Los Angeles. Rose is Jewish.
Career
Rose began his music career in the early 1990s in the band Snake Nation, alongside Vinnie Hornsby. In late 1992, Rose and Hornsby joined forces with Lajon Witherspoon, who was at that time in a R&B band called Body & Soul, and formed Rumblefish, which was changed to Crawlspace then to Sevendust after a name rights issue. Morgan Rose is one of the most respected and most innovative drummers in the industry, being voted by Drum magazine and Drummerworld as one of the top 100 drummers of all time. He is also one of the most charismatic members of the band. He often writes lyrics, and is the backup vocalist when playing live. Australia's Rolling Stone voted him the "Hottest drummer" in history, thanks to a poll that was taken in 2003. In 2004, he was voted the number one metal drummer by Modern Drummer magazine. He is also ranked no.32 in Hit Parader's Top 100 Bassist and Drummers of All time. Rose is featured on guest vocals in American heavy metal band Neversets track, "Take It All Away". Alien Freak Wear is his own personal line of clothing with tee shirts, hoodies, headwear, and many other items. He also has his own signature Alien Freak model of drumsticks made by Vater Percussion, whom he is endorsed by. The brand name Alien Freak stems from a nickname Rose earned early in his career. On how the nickname came about, Rose explains in a 2007 article; "A long time ago some close friends of mine started calling me an alien, probably because of my personal/visual style. At the same time, a lot of people were calling me a freak because of how I was performing. A few years ago someone asked if I'd be interested in having my own stick and starting a merchandise company, and those things needed a name. So we put the two nicknames together". Due to Tommy Lee injuring his hand in August 2009, Morgan filled in on drums in place of Lee, in Mötley Crüe, for five shows on Crüe Fest 2 from August 14 to August 19. He was also recruited to replace Ray Luzier and pulled double duty on the last few shows of the first leg of the Music As A Weapon V tour, sitting behind the kit for co-headliners Korn. Eye Empire has tapped Morgan Rose to record the drums on the band's debut album, Moment of Impact. In June, 2012, Rose began working with The Infinite Staircase at Architekt Music, as both the drummer and producer of their ninth album, Black Out the Sun, released in March 2013. In late 2014 Morgan Rose began working with at HyperThreat Recording Studio creating the rhythm tracks for their latest album to be released in late 2014 or early 2015. This rented a Pearl Drum Set while Johnny Morgan's tech provided the Evans heads and Zildjian cymbals for the tracks Morgan recorded. In 2014, Rose formed a side project with Candlebox singer Kevin Martin called Le Projet.
Equipment
Rose plays Pearl Masterworks Series Drums, Evans Drum Heads and Sabian Cymbals, as well as ddrum electronics, specifically their tube trigger. He previously used Zildjian cymbals. He is a large supporter of the new Pearl Vision Sets. He also uses Vater Drumsticks, with two signature models, the Alien Freak, the Whiplash, which is similar to a 2B stick and Motu DP software. Pearl Masterworks Series Drums & Zildjian Cymbals:
Drums — Broken Glass Finish All shells are 6-ply, 2 Inner Plies Maple/4 Outer Plies Mahogany
Rose was married to musician Rayna Foss, the former bassist for the band Coal Chamber. They have since divorced. Together they have one child, a daughter named Kayla Moray Rose, born October 5, 1999. Rose then married Teri Harrison in October 2008, and they have a son together. They have since divorced.
Counting the Hours by Digital Summer - Backing vocals in "Playing The Saint", guest drummer on "Anybody Out There" and "Use Me."
Moment of Impact by Eye Empire - Drums
Moving Forward EP by Annandale - Drums
Pitch Black by Josh Willis - Drums
No Amends by The Infinite Staircase - Producer, Drums, Backing Vocals
Morgan Rose with Zakk Wylde, Kevin Martin, John DeServio and The Infinite Staircase teamed up to write and record a song in an effort to help raise money for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. The song was recorded at Architekt Music in Butler, New Jersey and was released, as an iTunes exclusive, on January 8, 2013 via Vanity Music Group.
