{"id":1878,"date":"2023-10-06T18:25:38","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T22:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/entertainment\/russell-batiste-jr-the-drumming-heartbeat-of-new-orleans-dies-at-57\/06\/10\/2023\/"},"modified":"2023-10-06T18:25:38","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T22:25:38","slug":"russell-batiste-jr-the-drumming-heartbeat-of-new-orleans-dies-at-57","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/entertainment\/russell-batiste-jr-the-drumming-heartbeat-of-new-orleans-dies-at-57\/06\/10\/2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Russell Batiste Jr., the Drumming Heartbeat of New Orleans, Dies at 57"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Russell did not take long to establish his identity within the family. He started gigging with the Batiste Brothers Band at local clubs when he was 6. \u201cWhen I was 8 years old<\/a>, I opened up for the O\u2019Jays and the Drells and the Chi-Lites at City Park Stadium,\u201d he said in a recent interview<\/a> on the podcast \u201cThe Jake Feinberg Show.\u201d<\/p>\n

At St. Augustine High School, Mr. Batiste played drums in the school\u2019s nationally famous Marching 100<\/a> band.<\/p>\n

After graduating in 1983, he enrolled at Southern University at New Orleans, where he studied under the jazz saxophonist Kidd Jordan (who died<\/a> in April). But he left college after two years to become the drummer for the singer Charmaine Neville (who comes from another New Orleans music family). He joined the Meters, which evolved into the Funky Meters, in 1989.<\/p>\n

By that time, however, Mr. Batiste was battling substance abuse, which impeded his career for a time, Damon Batiste recalled. \u201cImagine being a rock \u2019n\u2019 roll star, and people loved to be around you and you\u2019re na\u00efve,\u201d his brother said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t have his family around him.\u201d Russell found sobriety in the 1990s.<\/p>\n

In addition to his brother Damon, Mr. Batiste\u2019s immediate survivors include his father; his mother, Patricia Johnson; his stepfather, Newman Johnson; his sisters, Tasha Batiste, Lakisha Johnson, Monique Santiago, Merinda Bell, Tish Allen, Eboni Batiste and Chanell Batiste; four other brothers, David Guys, Aaron Duncan, Jamal Batiste and Ryan Batiste; his sons, Christopher and Darryl; and a daughter, Nareal.<\/p>\n

Considering the family he came from, Mr. Batiste could never have imagined another career, he said late in life. \u201cI was born with a pair of sticks in my hand,\u201d he told Mr. Feinberg.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Russell did not take long to establish his identity within the family. He started gigging with the Batiste Brothers Band at local