The Top 5 Greatest Drummers in Rock History

The Top 5 Greatest Drummers in Rock History

Rock music is everywhere, rock music is forever – I think many of you can agree to this.

Rock makes many things better, from driving to relaxing, from parties to work, giving life a pace, a rhythm, something to measure it by. The guitars and the drums give movies, TV shows, and video games their unique feel, with developers doing their best to match awesome music to awesome casino games and basically any other form of entertainment available today.

In general, the best-known people in a band, playing rock or any other genre, are those in the front of the stage – singers and guitarists are always stealing the show. But behind them, there are the drummers, giving the song its backbone: the rhythm. Today, let us dedicate a piece of our time to these unsung heroes in the world of rock music: the best drummers in history (according to the Rolling Stone magazine).

5. Hal Blaine

Hal Blaine, born Harold Simon Belsky, played the drums long before rock as we know it was born. His impressive resumé includes playing with legendary performers and bands like Elvis Presley, Paul Anka, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Patty Page, The Beach Boys, Cher, The Carpenters, Simon & Garfunkel, and many others (Wikipedia has an impressive list of more than 150 songs he recorded during his career).

He played on six consecutive “Record of the Year” Grammy winners, and he is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, and the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame, as well as the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame.

4. Neil Peart

Neil Peart is best known for playing with Canadian rock band Rush. It is a less-known fact that he is also the band’s main lyricist: he has written around 80 songs for Rush. As a drummer, his career is quite notable: he was introduced into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1986, he was named Best Rock Drummer for seven consecutive years (1980 to 1986), and has received numerous awards and recognition for his work, including his instructional video called “Anatomy of A Drum Solo” in 2006.

3. Ginger Baker

Cream drummer Ginger Baker, born Peter Edward Baker, was known throughout the 1960s as “the world’s first superstar drummer”. He started playing the drums at the age of 15 (in 1954) and after many ups and downs, he co-founded Cream with guitarist/songwriter Eric Clapton in 1966. He recorded one of the first drum solos in the history of rock (Toad) and is remembered especially for his showmanship and the fact that he used two bass drums instead of one. He was an influence for many great drummers, like the above-mentioned Neil Peart, Alex Van Halen, Dave Lombardo, and Nick Mason, and he was listed as one of the most important drummers of all time by Drum! magazine.

2. Keith Moon

Keith Moon is remembered as the man behind The Who. His life was short and self-destructive (he passed away at the age of 32 due to a clomethiazole overdose) Moon was often described as “the greatest drummer in rock”, and compared to Jimi Hendrix behind the drums. “People will be talking about Keith Moon ’til they die, man. Someone somewhere will say, ‘Remember Keith Moon?'”, Ozzy Osbourne said about him in an interview.

He was the second drummer to be chosen into Modern Drummer’s Hall of Fame in 1982.

1. John Bonham

Led Zeppelin drummer John Henry Bonham is regarded as perhaps the most influential rock drummer of all time. He is cited as an influence by many great drummers, including Tommy Lee, Dave Grohl, Dave Lombardo, and Brad Wilk, and former Genesis drummer Phil Collins, who told Robert Plant that he wanted to play with him on his solo albums because he loved Bonham’s drumming.

“John Bonham played the drums like someone who didn’t know what was going to happen next — like he was teetering on the edge of a cliff. No one has come close to that since, and I don’t think anybody ever will. I think he will forever be the greatest drummer of all time”, Dave Grohl said, speaking of his work.

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