What Is Mickey Hart’s Net Worth?
Mickey Hart: American Percussionist and Musicologist
Mickey Hart is a renowned American percussionist, musicologist, artist, and author with a net worth of $50 million. He is famous for his stint as the drummer for the Grateful Dead from 1967 to 1971 and from 1974 to 1995.
Aside from his work with the Grateful Dead, Hart has released several solo albums. These include “Rolling Thunder” (1972), “At the Edge” (1990), “Planet Drum” (1991), “Spirit into Sound” (1999), and “RAMU” (2017).
Hart also formed the band the Rhythm Devils with the Grateful Dead’s other drummer, Bill Kreutzmann. They released the album “The Apocalypse Now Sessions: The Rhythm Devils Play River Music” (1980) and the DVD “The Rhythm Devils Concert Experience” (2008).
As an author, Hart has published several books, including “Drumming at the Edge of Magic: A Journey into the Spirit of Percussion” (1990), “Planet Drum: A Celebration of Percussion and Rhythm” (1991), “Spirit into Sound: The Magic of Music” (1999), and “Songcatchers: In Search of the World’s Music” (2003).
Hart and his fellow Grateful Dead members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. In 2016, he was ranked #34 (along with Kreutzmann) on “Rolling Stone” magazine’s “100 Greatest Drummers of All Time” list.
Mickey Hart: Early Life and Career
Mickey Hart was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1943. His mother was a drummer, bookkeeper, and gown maker, while his father was a champion rudimental drummer who left the family when Mickey was young. Hart was interested in percussion from a young age and attended Lawrence High School, where he was first chair in the All State Band. He dropped out during his senior year and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1961. During his time in the military, he formed the band Joe and the Jaguars with one of his fellow servicemen. After leaving the Air Force, Hart opened the Hart Music Center in California with his reconciled father. He later became a member of the band William Penn and His Pals and met Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann in San Francisco in 1967.
Mickey Hart’s Career Highlights
Mickey Hart joined the Grateful Dead in 1967 and played on several of their albums before leaving in 1971 due to his father’s embezzlement. He rejoined the band in 1976 and remained until their disbandment in 1995. Hart has collaborated with his former bandmates in various projects such as The Dead and Dead & Company. He has also released several solo albums, including the Grammy-winning “Planet Drum.”
Aside from music, Hart joined the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function’s Board of Directors in 2000 and received the Music Has Power Award in 2003. He formed the Hydra Project in 2005 and went on tour with the Rhythm Devils in 2006. In 2010, he debuted his composition “Rhythms of the Universe” at the Cosmology on the Beach conference. The Mickey Hart Band released two albums, “Mysterium Tremendum” and “Superorganism,” in 2012 and 2013, respectively.
Hart also delved into visual art and created his “Vibrational Expressionism” pieces, which have been showcased in various museums in recent years. He released his solo album “RAMU” in 2017.
Mickey Hart: Family Life and Cultural Preservation
Mickey Hart married Caryl in 1990. They have two children, Taro and Reya. Mickey used Taro’s heartbeat (in utero) on his 1989 album “Music to Be Born By.” Caryl is a lawyer/environmental activist and former Sonoma County Regional Parks Director.
Mickey performed at the Jerusalem Sacred Music Festival in 2013. He is Jewish and is involved in preserving global musical traditions at the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and the Library of Congress’ American Folklife Center. Mickey is a member of the American Folklife Center’s Board of Trustees and the Library of Congress National Recorded Sound Preservation Board.
Grateful Dead and Mickey Hart’s Grammy Awards and Recognitions
The Grateful Dead received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. They were also ranked #57 on “Rolling Stone” magazine’s 2004 list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time.” In 2011, a recording of a 1977 Grateful Dead concert at Cornell University’s Barton Hall was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.
Mickey Hart has been nominated for three Grammys, winning Best World Music Album for “Planet Drum” in 1992 and Best Contemporary World Music Album for “Global Drum Project” in 2009. He was also nominated for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for “Aladdin And The Magic Lamp” (1995).
