“Ric‘s amazing history in the music world is well known. I had the great good fortune to work with Ric on three albums. Studio time was casual, fun, and scattered with stories and humor. Ric never actually prepared for a session, but would come up with the beat and the arrangement on the spot. He would say ‘How does this next song go?’ I’d play it to him on a guitar, and he’d think about it for a minute. Then he would say ‘Right! Got something.’ Then he would nail it in one or two takes, and it was as perfect as it gets.

“Ric was one of a kind. He lives on in his music, and in our hearts.”

In a 2007 interview with Missoulian, he said about how he landed the role: “The first question they asked was, ‘What do you think about a movie that’s going to tear your career apart?’ I said, ‘You should have made this movie about 10 years ago.’ They then asked me what other bands I’d been in, and I said, ‘Well, I was in a band called ATOMIC ROOSTER.’ They looked at each other and said, ‘Yep, that’s it, you’re our man.'”

According to Wikipedia, Parnell remained with SPINAL TAP when it became a working band, recording a soundtrack album and promoting the film with live shows and a 1984 appearance on “Saturday Night Live”. The character of Mick Shrimpton having died in “This Is Spinal Tap”, Parnell assumed the role of his “twin brother” drummer Ric Shrimpton for the group’s appearances subsequent to the film. This continued through the band’s 1992 reunion album “Break Like The Wind” and the associated concert tour. Parnell was not a part of more recent SPINAL TAP activity.