Drummer, vocalist and 'Indian of the group' for The Mothers of Invention, he is also known for his Cheyenne heritage and drooping moustache.

Born in El Paso, Texas, his mother married Carl Black when he ws one year old. He started playing the piano at the age of 6, but didn't like it much. When he was 12, he started to play the trumpet.

He joined the US Air Force in 1958 and started to play the drums because there weren't any trumpets in rock 'n' roll. So began a 41 year career as a drummer.

He cut his first single in 1962 with a band called the Keys in Wichita, Kansas. He moved to California in 1964 and there met Roy Estrada and Ray Collins and started the band called The Soul Giants. When their guitar player got drafted into the Army, Collins said he knew a guitar player named Frank Zappa, so they auditioned him and hired him. One month later, Zappa took over as leader of the band, which was renamed as The Mothers.

In 1970, Black formed the band Geronimo Black (named after his youngest son) with Bunk Gardner and some other musicians. They played around LA for a couple of years before getting a record deal with MCA Records.

In the meantime, in 1971 Black went to England to make a movie called 200 Motels with Zappa. During the making of the movie, he got a chance to meet and work with one of his favourite all time drummers Ringo Starr. In 1980, The Grandmothers formed and put out one album on Rhino Records called A Mother Of An Anthology.

He is currently working as guest vocalist with The Muffin Men, a Zappa tribute band based in Liverpool, England, and with Jon Larsen, on the surrealistic Strange News From Mars project, featuring several other Zappa alumni.