Peter Erskine was born June 5, 1954, in Somers Point, New Jersey, and has played drums since age four. He began his professional career in 1972 with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, joined Maynard Ferguson's band four years later, and went on to work with bassist Jaco Pastorius in Weather Report before relocating to Los Angeles.

From 1978 to 1982, Erskine served as Weather Report's principal drummer and percussionist, appearing on albums including Mr. Gone, 8:30, and Night Passage, and winning his first Grammy Award with 8:30. He later joined saxophonist Michael Brecker, whose own career is covered in full in his JazzProfiles.com profile, and Brecker's brother Randy in the contemporary fusion group Steps Ahead, contributing to 1983's Steps Ahead, 1984's Modern Times, and 1986's Magnetic.

One of the most skilled and versatile jazz drummers of his generation, Erskine has anchored big bands, jazz-rock fusion ensembles, and his own small groups across a catalog of roughly 700 albums and film scores, with about fifty released under his own name or as co-leader. He has won two Grammy Awards, was voted "Best Jazz Drummer of the Year" ten times by Modern Drummer magazine's readers, was inducted into the magazine's Hall of Fame in 2017, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in 1992, and serves as Professor of Practice and Director of Drumset Studies at the Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California.

Erskine's tenure anchoring Weather Report during its most celebrated fusion era, followed by his work in Steps Ahead alongside Michael and Randy Brecker, established him as one of the defining drummers to bridge straight-ahead jazz, big-band tradition, and jazz-rock fusion across a remarkably prolific 700-album career.