Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste was born in the 13th Ward of New Orleans in 1948, the eldest of six siblings, raised in part by his grandmother Lula Blouin, who bought him his first three-piece drum kit. He absorbed the styles of the New Orleans street parade tradition early — the syncopated second-line rhythms that would become the foundation of everything he built. As a teenager he joined the Hawketts, fronted by Art Neville, and honed his approach at clubs like The Nite Cap and The Dew Drop Inn.
In 1965 the Meters formed with Modeliste at the drums alongside Art Neville, Leo Nocentelli, and George Porter Jr. They became Allen Toussaint's house band at Sansu Enterprises, playing on sessions for Lee Dorsey, Dr. John, LaBelle, Robert Palmer, and dozens of others. Their own records — "Cissy Strut," "Look-Ka Py Py," "Chicken Strut," "Hand Clapping Song," "Hey Pocky A-Way" — were stripped-down, minimalist, and hypnotic, built on Modeliste's extraordinary capacity to create rhythmic tension through space and placement rather than density. "Cissy Strut" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011.
In 1975 and 1976 the Meters toured with the Rolling Stones, bringing New Orleans funk to global audiences. After the band broke up in the late 1970s, Modeliste joined Keith Richards and Ron Wood as part of the New Barbarians, then built a career as one of the most in-demand session and touring drummers in the world, working with Paul McCartney, Professor Longhair, Erykah Badu, Bernie Worrell, Robbie Robertson, Aaron Neville, Harry Connick Jr., and Herbie Hancock. In 2014, Eminem sampled his drumming for the Billboard No. 1 single "Berzerk."
Modeliste's grooves appear in recordings by NWA, Ice Cube, the Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa, Cypress Hill, EPMD, Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and hundreds more — a legacy that makes him one of the most foundational figures in hip-hop, despite never having made a hip-hop record. In 2018 the Recording Academy honored him and the Meters with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He continues to perform and teach from his base in the San Francisco Bay Area.