Paulina Villarreal

Paulina Villarreal Vélez (born 5 February 2002) is a Mexican musician. She is the drummer, singer, pianist, and songwriter for the band The Warning.

Life and career
Villarreal was born in Monterrey, Mexico. She went to a bilingual high school (Liceo de Monterrey Redwood) making her fluent in English.

From her early childhood, she was taught classical piano and drums since the age of six. Her parents' passion and her playing the video game Rock Band led her to rock music. Her father uploaded multiple videos to YouTube where she plays drum covers for well-known pop and rock hits.

Neil Peart was the biggest influence on her drumming style.

At the end of 2012, Paulina Villarreal formed her band, The Warning, with her sisters Daniela and Alejandra. In this band, she trades off lead vocal duties with guitarist Daniela.

In 2014, Paulina was profiled in the women's drumming publication Tom Tom Magazine. Also, this year Kirk Hammett of Metallica saw a video of her and her sisters playing a cover of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" and Hammet praised Paulina's drumming in a tweet.

In 2015, after the "Enter Sandman" video went viral, Villarreal and her sisters were invited to The Ellen Show as musical guests. Ellen DeGeneres supported them with a financial donation that helped to get a scholarship to attend Berkelee College of Music's five-week program – with an age waiver because the required entry age level for this program was 14 years.

By that time, Paulina Villarreal was already writing her lyrics and music. The band's first EP was recorded and released in 2015.

In April 2022, Villarreal was invited to teach a Drum and Composition masterclass at the Sound:Check Xpo event, in Mexico.

In 2024, Villarreal debuted as artistic director by creating and directing the official video for the song "Qué Más Quieres".

Equipment
Villarreal plays DW Performance Series drums. Her snare model is a Ludwig Black Beauty. The DW rack used by Villarreal has been custom modified for her smaller body size.

She is officially sponsored by Sabian, currently uses the HHX series cymbals.

She also uses Roland MIDI pedals and a laptop computer with Ableton software to control the timing of the band's live show, additional instrumentation, and the visuals appearing on the screen behind the band. In some songs, Villarreal also uses a cowbell.

Awards
In September 2023, Villarreal was voted number one by readers of Modern Drummer in the "Up and Coming" category.

Drumeo presented her the Rock Drummer of the Year award in February 2024.

In March 2024, she received the Decididas Global Award at the 2024 Decididas Summit, for "transcending borders and inspire us to dream BIG". She was honored for her contribution to the Mexican music industry and society, and for standing out as an exemplary leader who seeks to inspire more young women to pursue their dreams. Upon receiving the award Villarreal said: "When they told me about this recognition, the first thing I felt was insecurity and intimidation, doctors, astronauts and engineers came here, and I said 'I'm a drummer', but my mother explained to me that what I do has an impact on the lives of others".

In June 2024, Paulina was chosen to the list of The 100 most powerful women in Mexico by Mexican edition of Forbes magazine.

Personal life
She is the middle of the three Villarreal sisters of the Mexican rock band The Warning.

Villarreal has mentioned in interviews that she is interested in finance and plans to study in this field.

She likes fantasy books, anime and manga, which inspire her in writing music and lyrics.