Hunt Sales is an American drummer, songwriter, and producer known for work with Todd Rundgren, Iggy Pop, David Bowie’s Tin Machine, and his brother Tony Sales. His playing appears on Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life and several Tin Machine recordings. Based in Austin, he later formed the Hunt Sales Memorial and released Get Your Shit Together in 2019.
Background
Ethnicity:
Sales has described Jewish ancestry on both sides of his family and identifies himself as Jewish.
Hunt Sales was born on March 2, 1954, and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. He is the younger son of comedian and television personality Soupy Sales and Barbara Fox; his older brother Tony became a bassist and frequent musical collaborator. The Sales family’s connection with American entertainment placed Hunt in contact with professional musicians from an early age.
Sales has recalled becoming interested in drums after watching studio drummer Earl Palmer work. Through his father's professional connections, he also encountered musicians including Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, and Shelly Manne. He began performing professionally as a child with Tony in Tony and the Tigers, a Detroit-area group that appeared on Hullabaloo and Swingin' Time with Robin Seymour.
Career
Sales began performing professionally in the 1960s with Tony and the Tigers, the early group he formed with his brother. The duo appeared on the television program Hullabaloo in 1966 and on the Detroit-Windsor dance program Swingin' Time with Robin Seymour. Sales's early work developed within the Detroit popular-music environment, where local television, dance programs, and studio recording provided opportunities for young performers.
In 1970, Sales and Tony worked with Todd Rundgren on the albums Runt and Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren. Sales was also associated briefly with the first Utopia lineup in 1973. In 1976 he joined Paris, the hard-rock trio led by former Fleetwood Mac guitarist and songwriter Bob Welch and featuring former Jethro Tull bassist Glenn Cornick. Paris released two Capitol Records albums; Sales played drums and sang backing vocals on Big Towne, 2061.
In 1977, Sales and Tony formed the rhythm section for Iggy Pop's Lust for Life, recorded in Berlin during a period of collaboration involving David Bowie. Sales also played on Kill City and the live album TV Eye Live. His drumming on Lust for Life, particularly the opening rhythm of the title track, became one of his most recognized recorded performances.
Bowie later recruited both Sales brothers for Tin Machine, a band formed with guitarist Reeves Gabrels. Sales played drums on Tin Machine, Tin Machine II, and Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby, and toured with the group from the late 1980s through its dissolution in the early 1990s. Tin Machine represented a return to a band-centered rock format for Bowie and combined the Sales brothers' rhythm section with Gabrels's guitar work.
After relocating to Austin, Texas, Sales continued producing and performing as a session musician. He worked with Charlie Sexton and participated in Los Super Seven's album Heard It on the X in 2005. His screen-related work included drumming and music contributions to The Linguini Incident, Tales from the Crypt, Tapeheads, Slaves of New York, and Doctor Giggles.
In the 2010s, Sales increasingly concentrated on songwriting and formed the Hunt Sales Memorial. Big Legal Mess, distributed by Fat Possum Records, released the group's album Get Your Shit Together in 2019. The album presented Sales as a vocalist, songwriter, drummer, and bandleader rather than solely as a supporting musician.
Achievements
Sales became widely recognized for the drum performance on Iggy Pop's 1977 album Lust for Life, especially the driving opening rhythm of the title track.
As a member of Tin Machine, Sales helped create the rhythm section of David Bowie's late-1980s and early-1990s band alongside his brother Tony Sales and guitarist Reeves Gabrels.
Sales developed a second phase of his career as a frontman and songwriter with the Hunt Sales Memorial, releasing the album Get Your Shit Together in 2019.
Works
album
Tin Machine
(Debut album by Tin Machine, featuring Hunt Sales on drums...)
(Iggy Pop album featuring Hunt Sales on drums and his brot...)
1977
Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren
(Todd Rundgren album on which Hunt Sales performed with hi...)
1971
Big Towne, 2061
(Second Paris album, featuring Hunt Sales on drums and bac...)
1976
Tin Machine II
(Second Tin Machine studio album featuring Hunt Sales on d...)
1991
Runt
(Todd Rundgren album featuring Hunt Sales on drums.)
1970
live album
Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby
(Live Tin Machine album documenting the band with Hunt Sal...)
1992
TV Eye Live
(Live Iggy Pop album featuring Hunt Sales as drummer.)
1978
song
Tell About Mary
(Song associated with American Ninja 2: The Confrontation,...)
1987
Stateside
(Song associated with the film Doctor Giggles, with Hunt S...)
1992
Fall in Love with Maine
(Song associated with the film Slaves of New York, on whic...)
1989
Now That You're Gone
(Song associated with the film Tapeheads, with Hunt Sales ...)
1988
Religion
Sales has identified himself as Jewish and has spoken about Jewish ancestry on both his father's and mother's sides. He has described his Jewish identity as an important part of his heritage while also expressing an inclusive ethical outlook that places character above religious or ethnic difference.
Judaism is a religious and cultural tradition rooted in the covenantal scriptures of ancient Israel and shaped by rabbinic interpretation, communal practice, ethical responsibility, and remembrance. In Sales's public remarks, Jewish identity appears primarily as a matter of heritage, moral awareness, and personal identification rather than as a description of formal ritual observance.
Views
Sales has expressed an inclusive moral outlook centered on character, personal responsibility, and learning through direct experience. He has said that people must ultimately have their own experiences in order to understand life, and he has connected his later songwriting with personal struggles and recovery.
His public comments about Jewish identity and social prejudice emphasize human equality across religious and ethnic boundaries. His later music has been presented as a vehicle for self-examination, perseverance, and continued creative work.
Personality
In interviews, Sales has described himself as grateful for the opportunity to continue making music and as committed to inspiring listeners. He has also emphasized personal experience, individual responsibility, and judging people by their character rather than by religion or ethnicity.
Quotes from others about the person
Tony Sales described Hunt as a drummer with strong technical control, a distinctive drum sound, an instinct for improvisation, and a willingness to take musical risks while maintaining the groove.
Interests
Songwriting, music production, session work, and live performance.
Music & Bands
Sales's musical work spans jazz-informed drumming, hard rock, blues rock, alternative rock, and session recording.
Connections
Sales is the son of comedian and television personality Soupy Sales and Barbara Fox. His brother Tony Sales is a bassist and musician with whom Hunt has worked in Tony and the Tigers, on Iggy Pop recordings, and in Tin Machine. Sales has two daughters, Cali Sales and Sugar Sales.
Father:
Soupy Sales
American comedian, actor, and television personality best known for his children's television programs and comedy performances.
Brother:
Tony Sales
Bassist and musician who frequently collaborated with Hunt in Tony and the Tigers, on Iggy Pop recordings, and in Tin Machine.
Daughter:
Cali Sales
Born in 1990.
Daughter:
Sugar Sales
Born in 2007.
References
AllMusic biography of Hunt Sales
Biographical account of Sales's early career, work with Todd Rundgren, Paris, Iggy Pop, Tin Machine, and the Hunt Sales Memorial.
