Arejay Hale
Birthdate: April 1st, 1986
Band: Halestorm
Instrument: Drummer
Age in 2023: 38
Terrance Averell “Arejay” Hale has become one of the most known drummers in hard rock and for a good reason. At the age of 10, Arejay formed his band Halestorm with his 13-year-old sister Lzzy on guitar and signing and their father Roger on bass. In this formation, they released two EPs called Forecast for the Future in 1997 and (Don’t Mess With The) Time Man in 1999.
Between 2003 and 2004, the lineup went through a small handful of changes trying to find the exact right sound, bringing in three others to play lead guitar before settling on Joe Hottinger, and replacing their father with three different people before finally finding Josh Smith. From there, the band signed with Atlantic Records and released a live EP called One and Done in 2006. In 2009 their self-titled debut album was released, with the lead single “I Get Off” eventually being certified gold by the RIAA in 2017 and the album also reaching gold the year before.
Their next full-length album The Strange Case Of… came out in 2012, the lead single of which would earn the band a Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance, and the record would go on to be certified platinum as of 2022, as would the second single “I Miss the Misery” in 2019.
While Arejay does not get as much of the spotlight as his older sister, he still has his fair share of time being highlighted. He is quite animated while behind the drum kit, constantly showing off various stick tricks while playing. Each night, he also typically gets a drum solo where he shows off his impressive chops. During this drum solo, he tends to bring out a pair of comically large drumsticks to finish the solo with, something that doesn’t sound difficult but is quite hard to do.
