After updating our extensive history of drum solos feature recently, we decided to flag up some of the best drum solos ever.

Plenty to choose from there, as there have been plenty of amazing drummers over the years.

We’ve studied drumming since 2002 and it continues to fascinate us. And from all the 100s of drummers we’ve seen over the years, we’re picking out some of the best for your audio-visual enjoyment.

The Best Drum Solos Ever: Jazz, Rock, and Experimental Instrumentals Galore

Let’s start off with fusion drummer Senri Kawaguchi. Still only 27 and already a legend who has the nickname Princess of Many Strokes (手数姫).

Kawaguchi is one of many young female Japanese drummers taking the world by storm with their skillset. It’s proof you don’t need to be a big burly geezer to be a drummer.

Drumming has long been a macho, manly arena. With the likes of heavy metal, grunge, punk etc. you’ll often see heavily tattooed blokes straining like crazy as they thrash at their kit.

We wanted to start this feature off with something a little different to other pieces like this online. And Kawaguchi is the ideal start, ahead of the big behemoth ahead.

The Best Drum Solo in the World

The best drum solo we’ve ever seen? Got to be John Bonham’s Moby Dick, above performed in 1970 at The Royal Albert Hall, London.

John Bonham was a monster groove master, a man so gifted with his abilities the guy could make jaws drop. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing above, then just skip to:

• 9 minute 35 seconds and watch for a minute
• 13 minutes and 50 seconds and watch for 30 seconds

Moby Dick became legendary in the ’70s and Led Zeppelin toured their live act around the world. Bonham’s instrumental could last anywhere from 15-30 minutes.

The Best Jazz Drum Solos Ever

It’s very easy to start off with the legendary Buddy Rich here, as he performed at least 335,001 solos during his career (probably).

And each one of them was truly special to behold.

He was a powerhouse player. Although he sneered down at rock music, he didn’t incorporate elements of that style into his playing—the showmanship, speed, spectacle, and exhilarating nature of it all was matched by perfect timing (and a slumped posture over the kit).

But there are some many damn good jazz drumming geniuses from over the years it makes a tour through the best solo difficult.

Take the cool-as-they-come Joe Morello, whose pioneering instrumentals included only playing with one arm! That and hitting the skins with his bare hands.

That’s one of the things we’re keen to highlight—the best drum solos ever aren’t all about playing as loud and as fast as possible.

Subtlety is a big part of the whole experience.

That leads on to the Swiss legend Charly Antolini as a fine example of that. He looks like he should be a geography teacher, but bloody hell the guy can play. It’s all in the fingers, you know? You don’t need to be hyper fit. Nimble fingers and a sharp brain and you’re on it.

The solo begins at 4 minutes 30 seconds and, bloody hell, is it something.

Also a nod to drummer extraordinaire Ginger Baker, whose drum battles with jazz legends in the ’70s cemented his status as an all-time great. As he flagged up:

“It’s not how fast you play… it’s what you say!”

Baker insisted he was a jazz drummer and didn’t like the “rock” mantle. That’s a snobbish outlook, really, as in this community some have it in their head rock drummers just aren’t up to the level of jazzy types.

Baker wanted to prove he was a step above the rest.

But there are plenty of highly skilled heavy hitting types around, we must add, which is why we’ll flag a few up alongside the jazz greats.

A Few of the Best Rock Drummer Solos We Love

An obscure one here in the form of The Stone Roses’ genius drummer Reni. He never did drum solos with the band, despite being easily the best drummer of his generation.

During his many jamming sessions for the band in recording studios, some of his solos were saved for posterity. It’s just a shame there aren’t more of them.

It’s worth noting some drummers steered clear of solos. Potentially it was a bit of a cliché and could be overly self-indulgent.

Keith Moon of all people seemed to think that, labelling solos “boring”. Let’s pause for thought on that moment and have a musical interlude!

Keith Moon Drum Solo Special 🔥

The Who’s Keith Moon didn’t do drum solos. For a bloke so heavily entrenched in showmanship, that may seem odd.

Perhaps it was his way to buck the trend amongst his contemporaries, as Moon wasn’t one for conformity in any area of his life.

However, he did host a TV show in the US back in 1974. And with lipstick over his face and goldfish in a makeshift drum kit… he did a solo. It’s pretty much the only one on record across his entire career. Again, very odd to have to write that.

Now, we really like the solo. It’s tribal, with maximum emphasis on a fast pace, various bombastic flourishes, tribal beats, and excitement. It does show off, failings and all, the immensity of Moon’s natural abilities.

However, it’s also the type of solo that have Moon’s critics complaining about the lack of technicality. But that’s beard stroking boring and we’re not dedicating time to that.

More Amazing Drum Solos! Ginger Baker’s Toad, Power Cuts, and a Plucky Japanese Schoolgirl

Ginger Baker here again, who didn’t rate Moon’s drumming, landed some legendary solos during his time with Cream.

The band’s instrumental track Toad set the foundations for Bonham and others in the decade ahead for their own solos.

But we mean that right there is phenomenal. His precision and timing, merging African tribal beats alongside jazz and rock still sounds fantastic now.

Others from the era, such as Can’s groove master Jaki Liebezeit, didn’t bother with solos. Except on rare occasions, as the below we believe was performed due to a power cut.

Liebezeit was also Germany’s top jazz drummer during the ’60s, so it’s not as if the scarcity of his drum solos was due to lack of ability. The man was a genius.

But for one reason or another he let his in-song playing do the talking.

Rush’s Neil Peart must get a mention, too, as his highly technical style was similar to Liebezeit’s. We’re not big fans of the band’s music, but there’s no denying Peart’s solos have a dramatic, anthemic heft to them.

But we’ll end our best drum solos list with another unique take, this time in the form of the brilliant Yoyoka Soma. She’s still only 14, but by age 8 had already mastered Bonham triplets.

A very exciting talent right here. Already that good, where is she going to be at a decade from now!? Performing excellent solos, we’re sure of that.

Ba dum tis. 🥁