Richard Marx "To me, there was no better drummer than Jeff Porcaro. His musicianship and kindness to me will never be forgotten. Our loss is heaven's gain"

Mark Knopfler (Guitar Player, June '92) "One of the reasons why I loved making this album so much was because of [drummer] Jeff Porcaro. He's an artist."

Mike Porcaro  (Bass Frontier, April 2000) "The genius of Jeff was the interpretation. Jeff had chops, but we've all seen chops. He was the master of the pop song."

Jim Keltner in a Modern Drummer interview in December 1991 started talking about how a drummer's personality is reflected in his playing and gave several illustrations, including this about Jeff: "I always think that Jeff plays the same way he talks. He has a deep, resonant voice, and he carries himself in a very assertive manner, which is exactly the way his playing is. His playing always sounds very confident and commanding, just the way he speaks. And yet, when you talk to him, he's so self-effacing--sort of a contradiction! I must say, I think Jeff has the deepest pocket and the best time of ANYBODY playing today."

Lenny Castro in a Modern Drummer interview April 1989, talking about drummers he likes to work with: "Jeff Porcaro, who gives his all. If you're recording with him, you had better make sure that the tape is running at all times, because he gives it all to you, and he gives it all to you NOW. If he has to do ten takes, as far as he's concerned, it don't happen." And later..."When we play, there's a whole different language going on. There were times when Jeff and I were playing with Boz Scaggs, and we were doing things that were just incredible. I wouldn't even be facing him and we would be playing together, like we had rehearsed it forever."

Paul Jamieson in Modern Drummer February 1983, talking about being hired to tune drums in the studio: "Jeff doesn't have me tune his drums. Some of these guys . . . if they were football players they'd be All Pro's. It would be an insult to Jeff if I tuned his drums."

Andy Newmark Modern Drummer August 1992 (issue appeared on newsstands in June): "[Jeff] and I probably came from the same tribe a thousand years ago. We worked for Western Union, sending out messages on logs....He never loses his personality, regardless of what he plays. That's the key, really. Jeff always sounds exactly like Jeff. 'Confirming...message received!'"

Boz Scaggs quoted in Rolling Stone obituary, "As a husband and father, Jeff has been devoted. As a friend he has been constantly and relentlessly supportive. As a professional, he's been a consumate craftsman, inspired in his approach. He's been at the very heart of the world's music for some seventeen, eighteen years now, and to some of us, he IS the heart of it."

Michael McDonald in Los Angeles Daily News Dec 14, 1992: "He was the one person who changed my life. He was a very generous person, and that's something you don't see very often in this business. I thought the world of the guy."

Don Henley in Los Angeles Times Dec 14, 1992: "Besides being one of the best drummers anywhere, what he brought was enthusiasm. The guy could really light up the room, make you feel that what you were doing was important and good. I never saw him get moody or tired or anything like that."

Carol Calato [Regal Tip] "Jeff was an incredible player and person.  We miss his time and we miss his pocket.  But most of all, we miss Jeff.  Once again, thank you for continuing to recognize one of drumming's giants!"

Chad Smith "With that shuffle/swing groove I can immediately tell it's Jeff Porcaro. He was the king of that stuff. Ever since "Rosanna" he's been known for that. When we were recording Mother's Milk, he was doing a session with Natalie Cole in the next room. We were both using Drum Doctors, the drum rental service. Jeff came in to say hi at about 10:00 in the morning. We were playing, and didn't even know he was there. Afterwards he said to me, "Hey man, we've got to break your arms or you'll be taking all my work!" I said "Yeah, right!" He sat down to play a little bit and what did he do? Busted into a little shuffle, what else?"

Burton Cummings [1978 album 'My Own Way To Rock'] "This album also denoted the first time I worked with the late Jeff Porcaro, one of the finest and most sought after musicians of his time. His work on 'Never had a lady' speaks for itself. Richard [Perry] brought him in for most of this album because he wanted his creativity and snap on some of the cuts. 'My own way to rock' would never have had the same bounce or sounded half as good on the radio were it not for Jeff's drumming. He was one of the greatest."

Bjørn Juliusson "I had the good fortune to work on a record on which Jeff played in the eighties. (Fra Lippo Lippi: Light and Shade, produced by Walter Becker).
I especially remember that he used his personal set in the studio; a green Gretsch set with gold plated hardware. He was also drawing allt the time, on the tape strips on the console and so on. He told he figured he might be an (graphic) artist if he wasn´t playing drums.
A very, very nice man."