Tony Villarreal, founder and president, started the company in the late 1970s. "With an income tax check of $1,500 from driving a semi, I got enough equipment to fill a van," Villarreal recalls.
Paul Owen served as Metallica’s monitor engineer. Over 10 years ago, as Metallica was passing thru Detroit for a show at the Filmore, historically known as the State Theater, Owen had the opportunity to chat with Tony. After some discussion about how they both would do things with the band and for the business in general, Owen was offered a chance to become a part of Thunder and to have an influence on how they would operate the business and provide audio for Metallica and others.
From these humble beginnings, Thunder Audio became a major force in the professional audio market, boasting international tours including Metallica, White Stripes, John Legend, and Marilyn Manson, as well as large-scale music festivals, corporate events and substantial integration business.
