From Chicago he headed to Minneapolis-St.Paul where he studied with Marv Dahlgren, principal percussionist for the Minnesota symphony. He formed the rock band Chameleon and developed his own record label, Platinum Records. Chameleon made Billboard charts and was renowned for Charlie's revolving, upside-down drum set, which he played in live concerts and on MTV. The band toured extensively (sponsored by the Miller Brewing Co.) performing up to 260 one-fighters a year. Charlie then moved to Los Angeles where he joined his colleague and former Chameleonite, Yanni and while in L.A he studied with Ed Shaughnessy of the Johnny Carson Tonight Show.

"I think Charlie is one of the worls best drummers," says Yanni, "and aside from being a great musician, one of his best qualities is Charlie's loyalty and devotion to a project." Yanni and Charlie have recorded fourteen Cs, on which Charlie has played and written percussion and drums and done drum programming Yanni's In My Time and Dare To Dream Cs have gone platinum and Reflections Of Passion has reached double platinum status. Live at The Acropolis has sold over 8 million Cs, the video has gone platinum and it has set pledge drive records when it has played on PBS.
Charlie has completed eight major concert tours with Yanni. He has collaborated with Yanni as movie consultant writing the drum and percussion parts and doing all the research with his movie library, which consists of over 4,000 titles. He has also been assistant engineer and drummer on the soundtracks of various motion pictures. Their music has been used extensively by all of the major television sports networks, including the Superbowl, Wide World of Sports, U.S. Open, Tour De France, World Figure Skating Championships, The Olympics, and ABC News. Most recently, Charlie has joined Yanni in his ambitious 2003/04 tour. Charlie has the spotlight as a solo musician and he also plays along with Yanni's core band and symphony orchestra. The tour showcases Yanni's latest CD release, Ethnicity. Ethnicity offers an upbeat collection of tracks that pulse with the rhythms and voices of cultures around the globe.
"Music and my family are my life," says Adams, " I didn't get into this business to just show up for a session or a gig, collect my pay and to home. I got into this to play, create and experiment. I'm a composer, a producer, a musician, a performer, a drummer, a husband and a father."
When not on tour with Yanni, Charlie lives in Nashville with his wife, Andrea and their four children. He owns a 24-track digital recording studio, Adams Apple Studio, where he records and teaches drum lessons. Jimmy Chamberlin of Smashing Pumpkins was one of his former drum students. Charlie also tours giving drum clinics and seminars in schools and retail stores.
Charlie has just released his DVD titled "Stories and Solos...Life's Journey Through Music, Family and Autism". He also recently announced a partnership with the Autism Society of America to increase awareness and education reach. "My family's first hand experience with autism, enables Andrea and I to provide the ASA community with a parent perspective on autism needs. We are thrilled to work with the ASA and look forward to helping others as a result of this partnership," says Charlie.