US drummer, born on 05 February 1956 in Republic, Pennsylvania, USA.
Attended Berklee College of Music in Boston and moved to Los Angeles after joining Christopher Morris Band.
It was in L.A. that he got his big break in the Spring of 1978, joining the ensemble for [m36314].
Among other works in between, he continued to perform on Zappa works until 1983. He then appeared on Zappa’s later works in the 1990’s and also worked on projects with Dweezil Zappa & Denny Walley.
In 1990 Colaiuta joined Sting’s touring band and appeared on several recordings.
His accomplished style and sight-reading skills have gained him a career that follows a path among a diverse range of musicians - from Joni Mitchell to Nik Kershaw, Bette Midler, Paul Young, Leonard Cohen and many more.
His path crossed that of another Zappa artist, guitarist & songwriter Warren Cuccurullo, on the album [m79090].
He has also cut tracks on Cuccurullo’s works.

Colaiuta achieved a record setting 18 times Drummer of the Year awards from Modern Drummer magazine’s annual reader polls.