Derek Pellicci is an Australian pop music drummer. He is best known as a founding member of Little River Band. Pellicci currently lives in Melbourne with his wife, Anne and son, Joel.



In 1968 Pellicci returned to Melbourne to pursue his music career in earnest, first with the semi-pro band Recital, then his first professional group Plum.



The breakup of Plum led to stints with various groups: Ash (initially under the name Derek Allen), Arthur & The Argonauts, Island, Blackfeather and New Zealand Highway.



In 1972 Pellicci joined a new band, Mississippi (featuring future Little River Band members, Graeham Goble and Beeb Birtles). Mississippi not only served to develop his studio skills, but also was an orientation into the gruelling road tours that lay ahead. This led to more studio experience, both in recordings with Mississippi and session work in radio jingles and recordings with other artists.



In 1974 Mississippi sailed for England (ironically on the same ship that had brought Pellicci to Australia, the Fairsky). Whilst in the U.K., Pellicci was stunned to learn he had been adopted as a baby. In 2003 he learnt that his birth mother, Gladys Sylvia Hadley had died in Jerusalem on 29 May 1990. Pellicci never met either of his biological parents.