Drum Workshop was founded in 1972 as a teaching studio by Don Lombardi. Alongside student John Good, Lombardi began a small drum equipment sales operation to cover the studio's operation costs. After the closure of the Camco Drum Company in 1977, its manufacturing equipment was purchased by Drum Workshop.

After selling primarily drum hardware, the company began making its first drum sets in 1990

DW expanded into larger facilities in Oxnard, California, and grew to oversee a new company, Pacific Drums and Percussion, a company offering lower-priced drum sets.

In 2015, Drum Workshop acquired Ovation Guitars, Latin Percussion, Toca Percussion, Gibraltar Hardware, and KAT Technologies. In November, 2019, DW acquired Slingerland Drum Company from Gibson, with plans to introduce Slingerland-branded, vintage style drums to the market in 2020.