Phil Ehart

Phil Ehart was a founding member of the progressive-rock band Kansas and along with Rich Williams (guitars) is the only member appearing on every Kansas album (16) since the band’s inception. Phil was born in Kansas, but grew up across the world in places like Japan and the Philippines as an Air Force “brat”. But Ehart made the best of his transient life as he taught himself to play the drums, a skill that would define his life. In his late teens, Phil played drums for the band White Clover, performing at the 1969 New Orleans Pop Festival, but when he joined forces with Kerry Livgren in 1970, the band Kansas was formed and their careers soared. Ehart, Livgren and Kansas offered a unique sound as one of the few progressive rock bands of the early 1970s. Beginning with their 1974 self-titled Kansas LP, Kansas strung seven consecutive Gold records together including two multiplatinum records in Leftoverture (1976) and Point of Know Return (1977). The latter featured Livgren’s original song “Dust in the Wind”, which is widely considered to be one of the greatest songs in rock and roll history. Ehart has set the tempo for Kansas since 1974 and has co-written such hits as “Point of Know Return” and “Play the Game Tonight”. In 1990, Kansas split with longtime manager Budd Carr, and Phil Ehart took over the reigns of managing the band. Kansas has endured four decades of lineup changes including the departures of Livgren, violinist and singer Robbie Steinhardt and multiple departures and ultimate retirement of lead singer Steve Walsh, to name a few, but with Phil Ehart still drumming, continues to elate fans well into the new millennium. In December 2019, Kansas brought down the house at New York City’s Beacon Theater performing Leftoverture and Point of Know Return in their entirety.