Chester Thompson (born December 11, 1948) is an American drummer best known for his tenures with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Weather Report, Santana, Genesis and Phil Collins.

[5][4] Thompson practiced by playing along with albums by jazz musicians Miles Davis, Max Roach and Art Blakey.

From there, he moved on to studying records by drummer Elvin Jones, whom Thompson cites as a major musical influence along with Tony Williams.

[3][2] While attending high school, he studied privately with drummer and percussionist Tony Ames of the National Symphony Orchestra for one semester.

[4][2] In 1970, he played with organist Jack McDuff,[2][3] followed by gigs with other local groups, including time in Boston with keyboardist Webster Lewis.

[4] In 1973, shortly before Thompson was to start a four-year course at another music school, he had auditioned to join Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention and won the position.

[6][3] He was a friend of their tour manager, Marty Perellis, also of Baltimore, and landed an audition in Los Angeles after learning of Zappa's wish to use two drummers in his group.

[2] Thompson played on several Zappa albums, including Roxy & Elsewhere (1974), One Size Fits All (1975), Studio Tan (1978), Sleep Dirt (1979), and You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol.

Upon returning to Los Angeles Thompson met Weather Report bassist Alphonso Johnson, who suggested he jam with the band as they sought a new drummer, following the departure of Leon "Ndugu" Chancler.

[2] After leaving Weather Report, Thompson played recording sessions in Los Angeles as well as part of the San Francisco Broadway theatre production of The Wiz.

[7] Thompson had heard of Genesis's music from Johnson, and agreed to join the band for rehearsals in late 1976 for their upcoming tour supporting Wind & Wuthering (1976).

The soft rock duet between Peter Cetera and Amy Grant hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Thompson declined the offer as by this time, he had become a devout Christian and Zappa's anti-religious sentiments and lyrics conflicted with his beliefs.

He was also a founding member of the band Fire Merchants with Brand X guitarist John Goodsall and bassist Doug Lunn and appeared on their first eponymous recording in 1989.

He also appears on Steve Hackett's live album The Tokyo Tapes released in 1998 which also features John Wetton, Ian McDonald and Julian Colbeck.

In 1992, Thompson and his family relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, after liking the area when they visited to attend noted drummer Larrie Londin's funeral.

They had initially played together as part of the rhythm section of the Nashville Trombone Festival which was followed by a weekly residency at the Commodore Lounge for over a year.

[14] Air Pocket Caldera Fire Merchants Genesis High Inergy Santana Weather Report With Phil Collins With Steve Hackett With O'Donel Levy With Frank Zappa / Beefheart / Mothers of Invention With others