It’s the big one! Who are the best drummers ever?! We have our favourites and as we love drumming we’re wading on with our selection.

This is subjective, of course, so please don’t be aggrieved if you’re favourite isn’t on here. Ultimately, we hope the list below introduces you to some top new talent to enjoy.

The Best Drummers of All Time

We took up drumming in 2002 after falling in love with the instrument the previous year. As we’re not the best drummers around, we took to studying the artform extensively instead.

So! As we’re EXPERTS (or, er… enthusiasts) on drumming here’s our pretty serious, but not altogether super serious, batch of brilliant snare hitters.

26. Yoyoka Soma: Promising Natural Talent Suggesting Genius

At age eight, Yoyoka Soma had already mastered John Bonham triplets and gained international recognition. Soma’s incredible drumming continues to develop and she’s a natural talent.

It’s how she’s already performing in many bands, jamming with established Japanese musicians, and just flourishing like crazy, that continues to impress.

Her drum improvisations (see above) are most telling as she already has an endless series of tricks and licks that just sound great.

Add in her joyous enthusiasm for drumming and she’s an incredibly exciting prospect. How good is she going to be in a decade!?

25. Art Blakey: Pioneering Big Band Specialist

Yeah, there’s no denying Art Blakey’s colossal influence on drumming continues to this day.

As a big band drummer extraordinaire, he was a legend early in his career from the 1940s onward. He performed with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and then formed the Jazz Messengers in the 1950s.

Blakey toured the world leading big bands, even performing in our home city of Manchester, UK, back in the early 1980s. Our parents saw him play and they were wowed by his ability to lead big bands with ease.

He was a larger than life character, too, and rightly deserves a place in the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame. That was handed to him back in 1991 followed his death in late 1990.

24. Senri Kawaguchi: Firecracker Performances of Jazz and Fusion

This immense fusion drummer has been wowing the drumming community for some time. Senri Kawaguchi is an explosive talent and has gained international recognition thanks to her YouTube channel.

That led to appearances on Drumeo and much celebration of her abilities.

As a musician, she’s just stunningly well rounded. Her abilities are often spectacular and always entertaining, with showmanship flourishes including juggling her sticks mid-drum solo.

She’s still only in her 20s and already has the nickname Princess of Many Strokes (tekazuhime—手数姫) due to her versatility.

23. Ringo Starr: Using Creativity to Overcome Limitations

Oh heck, there’s the usual “Ringo was a rubbish drummer” nonsense we just don’t agree with. A lot of silly legends that have built up around The Beatles mythos, spread as Chinese whispers.

Sure, Ringo Starr as a drummer wasn’t the best of his generation. Not even close, really, but what he did have was brilliant creativity. He worked around his limitations to create some amazing bits of drumming.

The result is he’s kind of the ultimate drummer who plays to the song, providing exactly what’s required without any showy stuff. His style is instantly recognisable and that’s very unique in the world of drumming.

Unquestionably, he has to go down as one of the best drummers ever.

22. Zak Starkey: Brilliant Natural Talent Destined for the Big Bands

Ringo Starr’s son alert here. We do think Zak Starkey is criminally underrated in the drumming community. The guy has been a perfect complement to The Who for decades now, the best possible replacement for Keith Moon.

He’s also played for Oasis and various other bands.

Starkey has more natural talent than his famous father. Nimble-fingered to the extreme, he can fly around a kit effortlessly. His creativity, timing, and feel are also perfect, which we think is demonstrated with great brilliance on The Importance of Being Idle.

We’re not exactly fans of Oasis, but with Starkey present he added real clout to the band.

21. Neil Peart: The Iconic Drumming Legend

Rush fans are very keen to hail Neil Peart as pretty much untouchable in the drum solo department. We’ll be crucified for not putting him further up the list, but we do think the below are just better drummers.

This isn’t to knock him, as Peart was a brilliant talent.

Tragically, we lost him in 2020. It was one of the biggest losses for the drumming world in decades and was felt internationally.

Peart was heavily influenced by Keith Moon, but took a different approach to his playing. A meticulous, almost scientific, approach that merged many melodies across a huge drum kit. That ensured his solos were also a big talking point amongst fans.

20. Clyde Stubblefield: One Very Funky Drummer

Yes, Clyde Stubblefield was a funky drummer. His work with soul singer James Brown made him famous, working his syncopated drum pattern magic across numbers such… Funky Drummer!

That track in particular is noted for his a single-handed 16th note hi-hat pattern that’d floor a lesser drummer.

But he was self-taught and a natural talent, with a snare drum tight as they come and perfect time. The quality of his playing was just off the charts.

Stubblefield played a huge part in making funk drumming such a big deal, with lots of ghost notes that helped bring drumming into a new era.

19. Greyson Nekrutman: Stunning Natural Talent Destined for Superstardom

This young man has all the potential to be one of the best drummers ever (and we think he’s already there). He’s got all the natural ability you’d expect from an all-time great.

Greyson Nekrutman’s jazz drumming is phenomenal and he’s proven wildly versatile at the age of 23. He’s drumming along to anyone and anything, whether it’s rock, metal, jazz, and lots more.

As he progresses we’re hoping he’ll come forward in defining a unique drumming style, rather than emulating the greats, but for now we’re happy to watch his remarkable talents at work.

18. Joey Castillo: Spectacular Beast of a Drummer

Just as a pure animalistic spectacle we have to include former Queens of the Stone Age drummer Joey Castillo.

That might be a controversial choice (especially amongst Dave Grohl fans), but his showmanship, sharpness, power, and flow as a player can’t be denied.

He’s just exactly what you want from a rock drummer. Thunderous.

Castillo’s quite alarming presence as a powerhouse player was almighty to behold with QTSA at the band’s peak (2002). And we don’t think you can detract from his primal ability to leave jaws on the floor.

17. Elvin Jones: Jazz Drumming to the Rhythm of Synaesthesia

Colours and drumming? Well, that’s what we get here. As Elvin Jones is a legendary jazz drummer with added synaesthesia to boot.

He’d often see colours whilst playing, which added an extra dimension to his rhythms.

In the Sixties, he was part of the John Coltrane quartet and earned himself a place in jazz history with his performances.

His timing was perfect. His inventiveness always on it. But he was also a dilettante talent, happy to share his skills with the drumming community.

16. Evelyn Glennie: Orchestral Sweep and a Lifetime of Awards

Evelyn Glennie is an awesome percussionist, as you can’t help but focus in on her skills despite being deaf. She plays this aspect of her status down saying,

“My hearing is something that bothers other people far more than it bothers me.”

She plays barefoot so she can feel the rhythms in the ground and is just an absolute natural talent with percussion.

She’s won many awards for her performances, including the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Best Soloist of the Year (1991). Plus, Rhythm Magazine’s best Studio and Live Percussionist from 1998- 2004.

She makes this list not due to her disability. But simply due to her brilliance as a drummer, using her other senses to deliver naturalistic performances with incredible depth.

15. Jeff Porcaro: An Influential Groove Master

Whether you like Toto’s music or not, there’s no denying Jeff Porcaro’s rhythmic brilliance. He was just a natural genius as a player who could merge a Bonham shuffle with his own creations like it was easy.

Whether it was the Rosanna shuffle or his underrated work on Africa, he could keep things subtle or focus on the groove whenever he needed to.

He also had a dilettante mission to bring the joys of drumming to one and all. In the late ’80s, he’d turn up at universities to provide students with lectures.

And by all accounts he was a great bloke. It’s just such a shame his early death in 1992 robbed us of many more classic beats.

14. John Densmore: Sharp and Instinctive Rock and Jazz Flourishes

We think The Doors’ John Densmore deserves a lot more credit for his contributions to music. His drumming across the band’s albums is brilliant.

From Light My Fire to Break On Through, his drumming is iconic and had serious flair to it. That’s kind of forgotten thanks to the shamanic mysticism Jim Morrison brought to the band, only magnified by his early death.

It’s forgotten that Morrison and Ray Manzarek were floored by Densmore’s skills. And The Door’s producer Paul Rothchild said this of his drumming on The End.

“That’s some of the greatest drumming I’ve ever heard in my life; irrespective of the fact that I’m involved in this album, it’s incredibly creative drumming—he has an instinct for when. During a very quiet part he’ll just come in with three drum shots that are about as loud as you can hit a drum, and they’re right, they’re absolutely right!”

Whilst not as domineering and explosive as some of his peers, he’s certainly worthy of a place in any top drummers list.

13. Charly Antolini: Jazz Drummer with

Phenomenal Solos

Charly Antolini started his musical interests on a Basler drum. He moved to Paris in the mid-1950s and began playing with local jazz troops.

The Swiss player became very active in the 1960s, playing as leader and sideman on all sorts of projects. Later, in 1976, he formed Charly Antolini Jazz Power and his reputation grew from there.

As you can see with the above drum solo of Caravan, recorded in 1993, the guy is an incredible drummer. Passionate, inventive, brilliant with his timing. A powerhouse player!

12. Keith Carlock: Versatility Done to Perfection

Keith Carlock is a modern jazz drummer extraordinaire. But he also extends his skills across bands such as Steely Dan, Toto, Sting, Donald Fagen, and many more.

His incredibly versatility as an all-rounder is unquestionable, as his natural talent means he can drum to pretty much anything.

He uses traditional grip, angling the stick in his left hand at quite an unusual position. But the complexity and ease of his playing has him flying around the kit like you wouldn’t believe.

We think Carlock is a modern day genius and deserves more recognition, as his skill set is uncommonly good.

11. Stewart Copeland: Just an Energetic Mishmash of Goddamn Awesome

The Police drummer Stewart Copeland remains epic. Check out any video of his drumming on YouTube tube and players are busy fouling themselves in excitement at his style.

It’s very unique, merging rock with pop and new wave.

And he did that in a very physical and complex way, drifting from one style to the next and just wowing audiences all over the world.

We mean… what else can you say about Mr. Copeland? Bopping. Brilliant. Inspiring. Few people are going to argue he’s one of the best drummers ever.

10. Mitch Mitchell: Jimi Hendrix’s No. 1

Jimi Hendrix’s drummer was only in the limelight for a few short years in the late ’60s. But the guitarist was bowled over by Mitch Mitchell’s drumming brilliance.

Mitchell’s drumming style was flamboyant, taking Keith Moon as an inspiration (which infuriated The Who’s drummer) whilst mixing in jazzy, bluesy undertones.

To this day, some argue he was better than Moon. Certainly more disciplined, although not as spectacular.

Yet you can’t help but listen to the inspired Hey Joe and marvel at his remarkable playing. A powerhouse with incredible natural groove.

9. Jo Jones: The Jazz Drumming Wizard

Jazz drummer Jo Jones is here due to his inventiveness and impish sense of fun. He was a magician on the kit.

Although he departed this world in 1985 aged 73, Papa Jo Jones is still a drumming legend most famous for his work with the Count Basie Orchestra in the 1930s and 1940s.

Unusually, he often left bass drum playing out of his performances. Instead, he’d focus on unlikely tricks and hand movements that swept across the kit.

His unusual style helped to influence time-keeping on a ride cymbal.

But we have to just pay credit to his inventiveness. That impish grin as he was perched behind his kit, aware of the incredible visual and audio trickery that was just around the corner.

8. Joe Morello: Cool as They Come Jazzy Chops

American jazz superstar Joe Morello is very possibly the coolest drummer ever.

His exceptional time-keeping was matched by a laid-back style, but his skills were such he could be a big band leader for any jazz unit.

Morello was most famous for playing with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, adding his playing to numbers such as Take Five and Blue Rondo à la Turk.

In early life he was a talented violinist, but after meeting Jascha Heifetz he decided he’d never reach the highest levels. And so he took up the drums, impressing mightily in no time at all.

Contributing to over 60 albums with Brubeck, Morello had a distinctive drumming style and time signatures and you can’t understate his importance.

7. Levon Helm: Redefining a Drummer’s Role

Rarely do you get a drummer as the centre of a rock band, but Levon Helm was just that.

Helm was The Band’s lead singer and drummer. It created the unique situation (and strange image) of guitarist Robbie Robertson and Rick Danko fronting the stage… yet not being the centre of attention.

His brilliant voice and passionate performances quickly made him a star. Buddy Rich was a big fan and you can see, through the Sixties and Seventies, the jazzy quality of Helm’s performances.

The 1976 take on The Night They Drive Old Dixie Die for The Last Waltz documentary is now the stuff of legend. And if you listen to the body of his work you’ll find him to be a versatile and accomplished musician.

But his drumming, minimalistic at times, funky as all heck when necessary (see above on Don’t Do It), was perfect for The Band.

Sadly, we lost Helm a decade ago but his work remains very popular and he’s the go-to singing drummer for the rock world.

6. Ginger Baker: Fiery Revolutionary With Tom Toms and African Beats

A natural genius, Ginger Baker’s fiery drumming style boasted incredible limb independence, creativity, and perfect time-keeping.

He revolutionised drumming with Cream using his mix of African rhythms, extended drum solos, and jazz influences.

In the process, he became rock’s first superstar drummer in the Sixties.

A tall skinny bloke with crazy red hair, his berserk lifestyle (including heroin addiction) and difficult personality made him hard work for other musicians.

In some ways that overshadowed his musical career.

But his brilliance was such he was always in high demand, also touring with Blind Faith, Ginger Baker’s Air Force, and many others into the ’80s, ’90s, and ’00s. He was drumming right up until his death aged 80 in 2019.

That’s an achievement in itself, as he was regularly cited as the rock star least likely to survive the 1970s.

You can find out more about him in the excellent 2012 documentary Beware of Mr. Baker.

5. Buddy Rich: Explosive Jazz Drumming Perfection

Styling himself as The World’s Greatest Drummer when touring, the forthright and opinionated Buddy Rich could be accused of arrogance.

Yet his fearsome genius behind the kit let him get away with it.

Playing in many big bands as the lead bloke behind it all, he was a jazz drummer extraordinaire whose career spanned decades. Right from pre-WWII though to his death in 1987.

He championed the use of traditional grip with the sticks and was savage with his criticism against music he disliked (country music, mainly).

When not belabouring everyone around him with a fiery temper, he was slouched behind his kit working unholy wonders.

Lightning fast, precise, and in tune, his kit always sounded fantastic.

But he had an array of incredible tricks, too, upping showmanship across drumming with his poise and flair. We still love the guy’s drumming and, as it turns out, so does the rest of the world.

4. John Bonham: Monster Grooves and Pioneering Drum Solos

John Bonham (“Bonzo”) was 21 in the above clip from 1970. His Moby Dick drum solo is now the stuff of legend.

Few drummers can have this level of natural talent. It’s just unnatural, frankly.

Bonham at his best was all about monstrous grooves, flailing arms, and mighty power. When the Levee Breaks, Fool in the Rain, Stairway to Heaven etc. etc.

His legacy is astonishing and he’s regularly cited as the best drummer ever. Hands down. Some people swear blind no other drummer has ever been anywhere near his level.

We don’t quite agree with that. And his drinking meant that, by the mid-70s, his disturbing brilliance had faded considerably. His solos after 1973 never were of the same jaw-dropping quality as above.

Yet Bonham remains the drummer’s drummer. The one most look up to as the guy to strive towards—for many he is what being a drummer is all about. He IS drumming.

And when he was at his absolute peak, he was clearly the best drummer on Earth. Barring, perhaps, one other explosive individual…

3. Keith Moon: Madcap Personality for Centre Stage Showmanship

We feel that 60 second clip from 1974 sums up The Who’s Keith Moon rather effectively. In every area of his life:

• Manic and somewhat erratic brilliance.
• Showmanship.
• Showboating.
• Goldfish in the kit.
• What looks like lipstick/war paint smeared on his face.
• Almost certainly half out of it.
• Sticks flying in the air.
• Ready wit at the end of it all.

A complete entertainer, Moon’s bizarre drumming style was born largely out of his extraordinary personality.

Highly intelligent, he was also highly destructive, but everything he did in life was to the extreme and very unusual. He was a one-off.

But despite his natural drumming brilliance, he still has his critics. They argue he wouldn’t have been suitable for any band except The Who.

What seems to irk his naysayers was Moon’s abandonment of the technicalities of drumming, so in their view he’s “sloppy” and out of time. Ill-disciplined, if you will—that’s only ever going to annoy the drumming snobs of the world.

We think that’s nonsense, as you can hear in The Who Sell Out and the band’s earlier albums the range and quality of his playing.

His drumming is far more versatile across the band’s albums than popular history would suggest. It wasn’t all thunderous lunacy, he largely saved that for live performances.

Regardless, his uncontrolled offstage lifestyle (“Moon the Loon”) rapidly took its toll, burning him out by age 32 in 1978.

But what’s left is a vast body of work that’s easily secured him a spot as one of the best drummers ever.

2. Jaki Liebezeit: Thrilling Motorik Beat Meets Practical Theory

Prior to becoming a rock drumming master with a legendary Krautrock band, Jaki Liebezeit was Germany’s top jazz drummer.

Can’s rhythm genius ultimately went on to create an entirely new style of drumming called motorik beat, which adorns the band’s three landmark albums like gold dust—Tago Mago, Ege Bamyasi, and Future Days.

We mean, just listen to the hypnotic Halleluwah. There’s no other drummer who plays like that! It’s no drum machine, it’s Liebezeit and he was phenomenal.

He’s just a thrilling drummer to listen to, pulsating in and out of these cosmic songs in metronomic fashion.

And he was much more than just a drummer, developing out a practical music theory for rhythm (the dot-dash system), which was documented for posterity in 2020’s The Life, Theory, and Practice of a Master Drummer.

Yet we’ve never once seen Liebezeit in a Best Drummers Ever list. Ever. Not even in Rolling Stone Magazine’s Top 100 Drummers collection. That’s quite ridiculous.

Sadly, his passing in 2017 robbed us of a drumming genius. But we’re keen to keep his legacy alive.

1. Reni: The Complete Natural Talent

Reni is the most naturally gifted drummer we’ve ever come across. He was once described as playing the drums the way Hendrix played the guitar.

Although he restricted his career to The Stone Roses, he could have easily toured as a one-man drumming show and been selling out venues everywhere.

As it is, it’s a real shame a drummer of this calibre has largely been absent from music over the last 30 years.

As 20 in mid-1980s Manchester he was stunningly accomplishment. He joined The Stone Roses in 1984 and was immediately the star attraction, wowing The Who’s Pete Townshend at an early gig.

The Who’s star dropped everything to try and bag the drummer for his solo albums, saying Reni was the most naturally gifted drummer he’d seen since Keith Moon.

The Manchester drummer declined the offer to forge his own route.

In those early days, he was a powerhouse player and the total centre of attention. He’d often perform pre-gig soundchecks and have people open-mouthed staring at the physics-defying drummer.

But as The Stone Roses’ music progressed, Reni cut back to a three-piece kit and came to define the sound of the Madchester era.

Although for the band’s second album (the Second Coming), he adapted his style to blues rock and proved he was more than a match for Bonham. His solos from the recording sessions around the time are unnerving.

But it was his live performances that truly stood him out—anyone who saw The Stone Roses play live knew this was the best drummer on the planet. The band’s 1989 Blackpool gig is a classic example of this, remaining one of the all-time great drumming performances.

We mean, check out his explosive, ridiculous abilities across the show closing I Am The Resurrection.

It was his astonishing ease of playing and dexterity that’s still startling, not least as yet another incredibly impressive singing drummer. No straining at all, it was just completely natural for him.

Try thrashing out the bopping Elephant Stone whilst providing backing harmonies. He seemed superhuman, making it all look easy.

Playing away, he’d suddenly unleash a lightning-fast blast of genius that other drummers could only dream of.

And that’s how we remember him, those tantalising glimpses of how much he was holding back, so you just had to keep watching to see what was coming next.

Sadly, he now seems to have retired. But what he’s left behind is suitably enigmatic—the hyper-genius who graced only two full albums.