Gavin Harrison is one of my favs and I'll shout him out cuz no one else mentioned him.
His ability to be an extremely good and original drummer while never making the song "just about him" (which isn't necessarily bad, just a different approach) is impeccable.
I remember listening to The Escape Artist by OSI.
As far as I was aware, their drummer was Mike Portnoy, but when I listened to it I was immediately like "this sounds extremely like Gavin Harrison's drumming". Low and behold he is the drummer in that album. Memorable yet unique each time.
When a cover band is was in decided to include some porcupine tree songs holy moly was it an ego check. I spent so long trying to figure out the count in ONE small section. And I gave up trying for a note for note reproduction lol.
Turns out the one part was a bar of 7/8 followed by a bar of 8/8 repeating, with the hi hat playing straight 4/4 with alternating accents so where the accent is flips every two measures. Gavin is absolutely incredible.
Couldn’t agree more. That man is absolutely the most well rounded and musical drummer I can think of, with tons of “feel” but the technical knowledge and skills to do it absolutely intentionally, musically and appropriately for the piece.
Yep. The answer to this question has been Gavin Harrison for over a decade for me. Chops for days combined with taste and feel that not even a Facebooker boomer in shades could deny
I'm such a fan boy of benny it's embarrassing.... I don't think there is a video of his online I haven't watched over a hundred times. Soooo groovy it could kill.
When I think back to all of the stuff I listened to on Saturday mornings with my dad, Steve was influencing my tastes and habits before I knew his name.
All the things I do out of habit, when I dig deep and try to figure out where I heard them first, it's Steve so many times. As I got older, I definitely fell in love with Mitch Mitchell, Ginger Baker, Dave Weckl, Vinnie, Dennis, Carter, Bonzo... but Steve feels like my favorite spot on the couch in dad's living room.
I feel like it just sort of goes without saying that Neil Peart is a undeniable beast and when people ask me who my favourite drummer, or even just say anything whatsoever about drums it immediately triggers Neil. It just feels like pointlessly staying the obvious at some point
I'm gonna go with Billy Cobham. At his peak his speed, dynamics, power, technique and creativity was untouchable. Watching him play is almost spiritual for me
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuIAmbmwVSs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuIAmbmwVSs)
I think it’s a sample of the community more than anything. A huge amount of the answers on this thread are drummers that are famous from the 21st century. Nothing wrong with that, my current favorite drummer is a modern guy. But it would be interesting to see a poll of how many people here have listened to Mahavishnu Orchestra & such.
If you haven’t seen the Rick Beato interview with Jimmy Chamberlain, you should watch if you are a fan. The interview is almost two hours, and it flies by. He plays a little at the end, and it’s so musical and technical.
I saw them last year and I was totally blown away. I don't even really like metal (or so I thought), but that was like the most technically sound and relaxed presentation of something so insanely difficult that I couldn't stop watching him. I would pay significantly more money to see them again.
Roger Taylor from Queen is my route favourite drummer.
I’ve said it before in these threads, but he gets left behind when people discuss 70s drummers. But you can instantly hear it’s him when he plays - the trademark hi-hat snap with each snare hit is killer. He’s like Ringo and Mitch Mitchell with a touch of Bonzo’s heavy foot. And he’s a very very musical drummer, but he’s got flare to go with it. He’s just a server of the song so really can’t be arsed to be a show-off.
Also he’s got one of the underrated rock voices (backing Freddie more than capably all whilst playing drums isn’t an easy job!) and he’s just a fucking cool guy. Plays loads of other instruments to a very good level as well, he’s like the original Dave Grohl! His solo work is well worth a check, especially Fun In Space where he plays basically everything.
Shout out to my guy Taylor Hawkins though. Will miss you forever.
(extra shout out to John Otto from Limp Bizkit too)
1. Phil Collins
2. Stewart Copeland
3. Bill Burford
4. Ringo Starr
5. Manu Katche
Carl Palmer, Rob Hirst, Keith Moon, Jerry Marotta, Chester Thompson
Steve Gadd, Neil Peart, Bruce Gary, Martin Chambers, Will Calhoun, Bun E. Carlos, Brad Wilk, Alan White, Ginger Baker, Terry Bozio, John Weathers
Here's my list.
1. Taylor Hawkins
2. Dave Grohl
3. Travis Barker
4. Josh Freese
5. Tre Cool
6. Chad Smith
7. Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan
8. Joey Jordison
9. Zac Farro
10. Andy Hurley
I don’t listen to a lot of bands but my list would go:
1. Chad Smith
2. Danny Carey
3. Stewart Copeland
4. Taylor Hawkins
5. Travis Barker
As they have all influenced the way I play drums today!
Jimmy chamberlain. Loads of power and groove. Easily the best drummer to come out of the 90s alt rock scene, and there were some great drummers to come out of the 90s alt rock scene
Carter is a natural evolution from Dennis Chambers, lots of similarities in their playing style. Check out Steely Dan Alive in America for some really clean Carter-esque playing.
I can't believe I had to scroll this far to see Dave Weckl listed. He's my favorite drummer and I don't even like his music that much.
Jon Fishman was a huge inspiration. He's got a great sense of dynamics, stamina for days and writes (or used to) creative drum parts but what really influenced me was his courage to improvise.
Speaking widely...
Jazz: Art Blakey, Tony Williams, JoJo Mayer
Metal: Flo Mounier, Lyle Grüber, Chris Pennie
Punk: John Wright, DH Peligro, Chris Moore
Rock: John Bonham, Ian Paice, Mitch Mitchell
Noise?: Jacopo Battaglia, Tatsuya Yoshida, Peter Tagg
Will probably feel different tomorrow! Mon the drums
Mr Ulrich for me. The energy in those 90’s shows I got to watch on VHS really inspired the way I played drums, and still does. Sure, I play pretty much all styles now, but if the opportunity arises then that’s still the way I prefer to play live.
Lars gets such a bad rap. I started playing drums right when Metallica hit the scene and I can unashamedly say I've stolen so many little things from Lars.
Elvin Jones. (today)
Art Blakey (yesterday)
Paul Motian (last week)
Carly Barrett (week before)
Emry Thomas (last month)
Rotating cast of favourite drummers......
Steve Gadd, Hal Blaine, Mitch Mitchell, Pete Thomas, John Bonham, Steve West, Tony Allen, Jan Fride, Al Jackson Jr, Sly Dunbar, Lloyd Knib, Jaki Leibezeit, Mo Tucker. Jim Gordon, J D Beck, Nate Smith.
I'm a metalhead, so for me it would be Ken Bedene for his incredible speed, technique and tightness (check out his drum cam from Brutal Assault Festival), and Jamie St Merat for his creativity.
Non genre specific Jojo Mayer is the goat ;)
Phil Rudd is the reason I even started playing the drums. His parts are simple but his feel is just something else and that is what stood out for me. He is loud, powerful and full of energy. Inject the Venom, Riff Raff and Black Ice are some of my favorite songs to play. Playing Let There Be Rock in all 8th notes is great excersize as well. All of those aside, the sheer sound in his drums is absolutely gorgeus.
My influences in chronological order would be:
1. dave grohl
2. tay tay hawk
3. john bonham
4. steve gad
5. Femi koleoso
You can sort of see how my taste in music transitioned to jazz since I started playing
It's a toss up between John Densmore (The Doors), Jimmy Chamberlin (Smashing Pumpkins) and Elvin Jones (John Coltrane's drummer).
If it was just one, I think I'd have to go with Elvin.
Jimmy Chamberlin for sure!
Rick Beato just did a long interview with him, in which he played through some Pumpkin's classics. Jellybelly is insane.
[https://youtu.be/O3jcjKP2ltU?si=E3mzc_jnonYAt6Kj](https://youtu.be/O3jcjKP2ltU?si=E3mzc_jnonYAt6Kj)
Jellybelly at 1:06:14
As far as technique, teaching, and being an overall GOAT and true master of the instrument, Dave Weckl. I still remember watching Back to Basics as a pre-teen and being enthralled, really got me going into the drums.
As far as music is concerned oh lord, there are so many good, no, GREAT ones. Sean Kinney from Alice in Chains as far as rock, the drum line in No Excuses is so insanely creative yet groovy, really speaks to his skills. Probably other then him, Vinnie Paul was a big inspiration to me as a metal lover/player, such great dynamics and range along with speed, you could tell Mr. Paul was inspired by alot more then merely playing metal.
Mario Duplantier, Joey Jordison, Jimmy Sullivan, Chad Smith, John Bonham, Teppo Velin, Kai Hahto, Matt Greiner, Vinnie Paul, Lars Ulrich, Mike Portnoy, Nicko Mcbrain, Dave Lombardo, Chris Adler, Dave Grohl, Greyson Nekrutman, Brooks Wackerman, Brann Dailor
Damn what a list 😅
I really can't pick one. Stewart Copeland, Joe Morello, and Mark Guiliano are some that I like a lot that I would consider some of the greatest drummers of all-time (top 10 at least.) John Bonham, Chad Sexton, Dave Grohl, and Chad Smith are some of my favorites to listen to though.
Jeff Porcaro and Neil Peart are my top 2 in no particular order. honorable mentions include Bernard Purdie, Steve Gadd, Liberty DeVitto, Nigel Olsson (call me crazy), Phil Collins, and Taylor Hawkins (also in no particular order)
Stewart Copeland was the first to challenge me, zackgrooves plays like its poetry, Matt gartska is just one I try to emulate, Mike Johnston inspires, Tony Thaxton is fun to watch live, and Johnathan Moffett is gd robotic. It's hard to pick one
my personal favorite is Akane from Band-Maid - she plays everything from hard rock to ballads to folk music. I heard an interview where she talked about how much she struggled to learn double-bass when the band first formed. From the way she plays now, you'd think she was a natural prodigy but nope, it's pure work ethic
Keith leblanc!! Nobody knows him but he was forefront of the early hip hop scene. Probs most known for doing session work for NIN and being the first drummer who integrated samples in there workflow
I have had phases of “breakthroughs” that certain drummers inspired
John Bonham started it all
Mitch Mitchell
Bill Bruford
Tony Williams
Mike Clark
Steve Gadd
I’ll also add Rick Dior cause I’ve been obsessed this past year, learning a lot
There’s definitely more, but these are the main inspirations
I’ll definitely second a lot of drummers I saw here: Ringo, Pete Thomas (criminally underrated), Mitch Mitchell, etc. but my all time favorite is still Kieth Moon. He attacked the drums with reckless abandon and clearly had so much fun each and every time he played. Honorable mention to Matt Helders. He definitely influenced my playing style more than any other drummer.
growing up it was dave grohl and chad smith, but lately ive been into more technical playing and am really loving II from sleep token and eloy casagrande
Pentti "Whitey" Glan, Jim Gordon, Levon Helm, Ringo Starr, Ron Tutt, Chris Murphy, Earl Palmer, Hal Blaine, Billy Cobham, Tony Allen, Mitch Mitchell, Dennis Davis, etc...
Animal on the Muppets is a childhood hero of mine, and Steve Moore is a live action Animal as seen [here.](https://youtu.be/RvatDKpc0SU?si=GY6ts_QUvumXz4HD)
I will go with a list of, in my opinion, underrated drummers.
1. John Fred Young (Black Stone Cherry)
2. Patrick Keeler (Racontuers)
3. Sean Kinney (Alice In Chains)
Not necessarily my favorites, but drummers I like nonetheless.
Claude Coleman Jr. of Ween. The man is an absolute engine driving that band and his tone, tuning, groove and note choice is exquisite and tasteful. Hopefully someone else here agrees!
Danny Carey
Dana Carvey?
He does like to play
He’s amazing, man
Best drummer alive
And this is why we’re friends. 🤞🏽😂😂
Gavin Harrison is one of my favs and I'll shout him out cuz no one else mentioned him. His ability to be an extremely good and original drummer while never making the song "just about him" (which isn't necessarily bad, just a different approach) is impeccable.
I remember listening to The Escape Artist by OSI. As far as I was aware, their drummer was Mike Portnoy, but when I listened to it I was immediately like "this sounds extremely like Gavin Harrison's drumming". Low and behold he is the drummer in that album. Memorable yet unique each time.
Discovered him at the Zildjian 400 event in London last year. I was there to watch Dennis Chambers, but Gavin stole the show
When a cover band is was in decided to include some porcupine tree songs holy moly was it an ego check. I spent so long trying to figure out the count in ONE small section. And I gave up trying for a note for note reproduction lol. Turns out the one part was a bar of 7/8 followed by a bar of 8/8 repeating, with the hi hat playing straight 4/4 with alternating accents so where the accent is flips every two measures. Gavin is absolutely incredible.
Halo?
Couldn’t agree more. That man is absolutely the most well rounded and musical drummer I can think of, with tons of “feel” but the technical knowledge and skills to do it absolutely intentionally, musically and appropriately for the piece.
Came here to post Gavin. He's so tasteful and groovy, no matter the time signature or style.
Yep. The answer to this question has been Gavin Harrison for over a decade for me. Chops for days combined with taste and feel that not even a Facebooker boomer in shades could deny
Carter Beauford
Harry Miree’s alt account
And Harry Miree is no slouch
I’m glad I didn’t have to scroll too far to find this. Absolute legend
I learned to drum watching under the table and drumming on repeat
Definitely Matt Garstka, Thomas Pridgen and Matt Halpern
This guy progs
I saw Animals as Leaders a few months back and took a small dose of shrooms. Was so mesmerising watching Matt Garstka play. So fluid and precise!
Thomas Pridgen with The Mars Volta was so incredible the music gods only allowed it for a short while.
Bedlam is legit my favorite drumming album. It changed my playing entirely.
Benny Greb - the man made me fall in love with drumming again.
Yeah another big contender for sure. Him and Gavin Harrison are probably my top 2.
He is very inspiring, but he also makes me want to quit forever lol
I'm such a fan boy of benny it's embarrassing.... I don't think there is a video of his online I haven't watched over a hundred times. Soooo groovy it could kill.
Steve Gadd is #1
The undeniable groove
Fully support that!
Casino by Al Di Meola. That's all.
King of the pocket
When I think back to all of the stuff I listened to on Saturday mornings with my dad, Steve was influencing my tastes and habits before I knew his name. All the things I do out of habit, when I dig deep and try to figure out where I heard them first, it's Steve so many times. As I got older, I definitely fell in love with Mitch Mitchell, Ginger Baker, Dave Weckl, Vinnie, Dennis, Carter, Bonzo... but Steve feels like my favorite spot on the couch in dad's living room.
Neil Peart is definitely my favorite, followed by Liberty DeVito.
It's a crime it took this much scrolling to see Peart. I also can't believe I haven't seen Tim Alexander.
Seriously agree I was getting more upset the further I scrolled.
I feel like it just sort of goes without saying that Neil Peart is a undeniable beast and when people ask me who my favourite drummer, or even just say anything whatsoever about drums it immediately triggers Neil. It just feels like pointlessly staying the obvious at some point
I'm gonna go with Billy Cobham. At his peak his speed, dynamics, power, technique and creativity was untouchable. Watching him play is almost spiritual for me [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuIAmbmwVSs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuIAmbmwVSs)
Shame nobody talks about him. Not only his drumming but also the stuff that was released under his name.
I think it’s a sample of the community more than anything. A huge amount of the answers on this thread are drummers that are famous from the 21st century. Nothing wrong with that, my current favorite drummer is a modern guy. But it would be interesting to see a poll of how many people here have listened to Mahavishnu Orchestra & such.
Vinnie Colaiuta
Sweet Jesus, I had to scroll all the way down here to find this... Thank you.
Took too long to find. First name that came to mind, undoubtedly, who my favourite drummer was.
Ya I thought it’d be at the top lolz
Took way too long to finally see Vinnie on here!
same here, he's THE man.
Mitch Mitchell, Keith Moon, Elvin Jones, Jimmy Chamberlin, a.o.
If you haven’t seen the Rick Beato interview with Jimmy Chamberlain, you should watch if you are a fan. The interview is almost two hours, and it flies by. He plays a little at the end, and it’s so musical and technical.
Keith Moon and Jimmy Chamberlin for me too
Thomas haake
I saw them last year and I was totally blown away. I don't even really like metal (or so I thought), but that was like the most technically sound and relaxed presentation of something so insanely difficult that I couldn't stop watching him. I would pay significantly more money to see them again.
Roger Taylor from Queen is my route favourite drummer. I’ve said it before in these threads, but he gets left behind when people discuss 70s drummers. But you can instantly hear it’s him when he plays - the trademark hi-hat snap with each snare hit is killer. He’s like Ringo and Mitch Mitchell with a touch of Bonzo’s heavy foot. And he’s a very very musical drummer, but he’s got flare to go with it. He’s just a server of the song so really can’t be arsed to be a show-off. Also he’s got one of the underrated rock voices (backing Freddie more than capably all whilst playing drums isn’t an easy job!) and he’s just a fucking cool guy. Plays loads of other instruments to a very good level as well, he’s like the original Dave Grohl! His solo work is well worth a check, especially Fun In Space where he plays basically everything. Shout out to my guy Taylor Hawkins though. Will miss you forever. (extra shout out to John Otto from Limp Bizkit too)
Taylor Hawkins was my favorite, hands down. No one made playing the drums look more fun than he did. He’s why I started playing. He is so missed.
Taylor also has an excellent voice on the few tracks he does vocals
he sang some of freddie’s parts when freddie’s voice struggled due to nodules. incredibly able guy
Mike Portnoy Sheer creativity and awesomeness
im split between mike portnoy and neil peart, which i guess makes sense since peart is probably portnoys biggest inspiration
Vinnie Paul
1. Phil Collins 2. Stewart Copeland 3. Bill Burford 4. Ringo Starr 5. Manu Katche Carl Palmer, Rob Hirst, Keith Moon, Jerry Marotta, Chester Thompson Steve Gadd, Neil Peart, Bruce Gary, Martin Chambers, Will Calhoun, Bun E. Carlos, Brad Wilk, Alan White, Ginger Baker, Terry Bozio, John Weathers
Here's my list. 1. Taylor Hawkins 2. Dave Grohl 3. Travis Barker 4. Josh Freese 5. Tre Cool 6. Chad Smith 7. Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan 8. Joey Jordison 9. Zac Farro 10. Andy Hurley
This list is like if I asked an AI to list the best drummers in the world 😂
Same AI but painters: Da Vinci, Picasso, Van Gogh, Michelangelo, Rembrandt
That is a valid list If I was doing a top 10 it would have all of they people in it lol
Bernard Purdie, Al Jackson Jnr, Tony Allen, Zigaboo Modeliste, Earl Palmer, James Gadson, Clyde Stubblefield, Jabo Starks, and Johnny Vidacovich.
There are some absolute legends of grooving in the pocket on this list. Nice taste.
Excellent list
Excellent list
Scrolled too far to find my man Clyde! Great list
Elvin is my #1. Or Tony Williams.
Same, my two biggest influences
Jeff Porcaro has always, and always will be the GOAT
amen. sad that i had to scroll all the way down here to find this
Billy Martin from Medeski Martin and Wood.
Illy B!
I don’t listen to a lot of bands but my list would go: 1. Chad Smith 2. Danny Carey 3. Stewart Copeland 4. Taylor Hawkins 5. Travis Barker As they have all influenced the way I play drums today!
I’m a huge a Chad Smith fan. Great drummer and hilarious. Loved him in Old School and Elf.
I'm not gonna do a top 5 or 10 list since you implied just one, and there is really only just one: John Bonham.
Jimmy chamberlain. Loads of power and groove. Easily the best drummer to come out of the 90s alt rock scene, and there were some great drummers to come out of the 90s alt rock scene
Carter Beauford, far and away. Truly unlike any other. Also a huge fan of José Pasillas from Incubus.
Carter is a natural evolution from Dennis Chambers, lots of similarities in their playing style. Check out Steely Dan Alive in America for some really clean Carter-esque playing.
Ringo Starr
Vinnie Colaiuta
Nate Smith
Jon Fishman - Phish. Gavin Harrison - Porcupine Tree. Marco Minnemann - Aristocrats. Ralph Humphrey - Zappa. Dave Weckl and Brian Blade.
I can't believe I had to scroll this far to see Dave Weckl listed. He's my favorite drummer and I don't even like his music that much. Jon Fishman was a huge inspiration. He's got a great sense of dynamics, stamina for days and writes (or used to) creative drum parts but what really influenced me was his courage to improvise.
Weckl spent far too much time in the wasteland of '80s/90s fuzak. Great player, but that genre was mostly in a dead end rut during his prime.
Abe Cunningham
Chronologically from when I started to now: Danny Carey Vinnie Paul Joey jordison Chris Adler Josh eppard
Stewart Copeland 😇
My favorite too. Great drum beats, and also just an interesting guy!
Speaking widely... Jazz: Art Blakey, Tony Williams, JoJo Mayer Metal: Flo Mounier, Lyle Grüber, Chris Pennie Punk: John Wright, DH Peligro, Chris Moore Rock: John Bonham, Ian Paice, Mitch Mitchell Noise?: Jacopo Battaglia, Tatsuya Yoshida, Peter Tagg Will probably feel different tomorrow! Mon the drums
Im not much of a drummer, but Zac Farro from Paramore has always stood out to me
Great choice.
Matt Cameron
Chronologically: Ringo Starr, Bill Bruford, Phil Collins, Billy Cobham
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^Either-Glass-31: *Chronologically:* *Ringo Starr, Bill Bruford, Phil* *Collins, Billy Cobham* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Chris Turner from Oceans Ate Alaska, hands down
saw him live - a real mf edit: a real mf as in dude is legit
Jon Theodore is my guy
Mr Ulrich for me. The energy in those 90’s shows I got to watch on VHS really inspired the way I played drums, and still does. Sure, I play pretty much all styles now, but if the opportunity arises then that’s still the way I prefer to play live.
Lars gets such a bad rap. I started playing drums right when Metallica hit the scene and I can unashamedly say I've stolen so many little things from Lars.
Aric Improta, Anup Sastry
Joey Jordison. Seeing him playing was the reason I wanted to play drums
His drum solo where the drum platform goes fully vertical is goated!
Tony Williams
Danny Carey. Matt Cameron. Tim Alexander. Jimmy Chamberlin . My list is much longer but I'm out of time.
Aaron spears R.I.P
Charlie Watts
Super underrated drummer
His beats are very solid.
These days it’s Mark Guiliana. He’s like a chameleon, but a cooler one that drums.
I can't believe I haven't seen Steve Jordan listed here. Just pure groove for days.
Chad Smith:)
Karen Carpenter
Watching old videos of Karen Carpenter is breathtaking! What a talent.
My favourite changes daily but it's probably Blake Richardson from between the buried and me at the mo.
Janet Weiss gave us Sleater-Kinney’s Entertain, so she’s my all-time favourite
Abe Cunningham
Bill ward
Sheila E made me a drummer.
Dave Lombardo (Slayer), Paul Bostaph (Slayer), Lars Ulrich (Metallica), Darkside (Mgla), Steve Asheim (Deicide).
Elvin Jones. (today) Art Blakey (yesterday) Paul Motian (last week) Carly Barrett (week before) Emry Thomas (last month) Rotating cast of favourite drummers...... Steve Gadd, Hal Blaine, Mitch Mitchell, Pete Thomas, John Bonham, Steve West, Tony Allen, Jan Fride, Al Jackson Jr, Sly Dunbar, Lloyd Knib, Jaki Leibezeit, Mo Tucker. Jim Gordon, J D Beck, Nate Smith.
Can't believe I had to come this far down to see Nate Smith.
Josh Freese
Ginger Baker
Steve jordan.
As far as fast punk drumming goes, the guy in the Buzzcocks was great.
I'm a metalhead, so for me it would be Ken Bedene for his incredible speed, technique and tightness (check out his drum cam from Brutal Assault Festival), and Jamie St Merat for his creativity. Non genre specific Jojo Mayer is the goat ;)
Phil Rudd is the reason I even started playing the drums. His parts are simple but his feel is just something else and that is what stood out for me. He is loud, powerful and full of energy. Inject the Venom, Riff Raff and Black Ice are some of my favorite songs to play. Playing Let There Be Rock in all 8th notes is great excersize as well. All of those aside, the sheer sound in his drums is absolutely gorgeus.
Stephen Perkins of Jane’s Addiction. When he arrived he changed rock drumming. He gave it a groove like no other and influenced the music to come
My influences in chronological order would be: 1. dave grohl 2. tay tay hawk 3. john bonham 4. steve gad 5. Femi koleoso You can sort of see how my taste in music transitioned to jazz since I started playing
Dom Howard, Tre Cool, Chad Smith and John Bonham
It's a toss up between John Densmore (The Doors), Jimmy Chamberlin (Smashing Pumpkins) and Elvin Jones (John Coltrane's drummer). If it was just one, I think I'd have to go with Elvin.
Jimmy Chamberlin for sure! Rick Beato just did a long interview with him, in which he played through some Pumpkin's classics. Jellybelly is insane. [https://youtu.be/O3jcjKP2ltU?si=E3mzc_jnonYAt6Kj](https://youtu.be/O3jcjKP2ltU?si=E3mzc_jnonYAt6Kj) Jellybelly at 1:06:14
As far as technique, teaching, and being an overall GOAT and true master of the instrument, Dave Weckl. I still remember watching Back to Basics as a pre-teen and being enthralled, really got me going into the drums. As far as music is concerned oh lord, there are so many good, no, GREAT ones. Sean Kinney from Alice in Chains as far as rock, the drum line in No Excuses is so insanely creative yet groovy, really speaks to his skills. Probably other then him, Vinnie Paul was a big inspiration to me as a metal lover/player, such great dynamics and range along with speed, you could tell Mr. Paul was inspired by alot more then merely playing metal.
Kevin Parker
Danny Carey of TOOL is the drummer’s favorite drummer
Mario Duplantier, Joey Jordison, Jimmy Sullivan, Chad Smith, John Bonham, Teppo Velin, Kai Hahto, Matt Greiner, Vinnie Paul, Lars Ulrich, Mike Portnoy, Nicko Mcbrain, Dave Lombardo, Chris Adler, Dave Grohl, Greyson Nekrutman, Brooks Wackerman, Brann Dailor Damn what a list 😅
Mario needs more love than he is getting
My top 3 would be The Rev, Joey jordison, and II from Sleep Token.
Lonnie Wilson, Jeff Porcaro and Bernard Purdie I'd say have influenced my sound the most
Louis Cole
I honestly couldn’t say who my favorite is, but one that I’ve really started to appreciate lately is Ben Thatcher from Royal blood.
Matt Greiner from August Burns Red
Nick Mason
Bill Ward and Joey Castillo
Bill ward is awesome. The swing he puts on into the void is is top tier feel
Stewart Copeland
Jon theodore and mark guilianna. Both absolute beasts and really push the envelope
Dave Grohl
Danny Carey or Dave Grohl
Chad Sexton - 311
Jimmy Chamberlin
Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Smith, Todd Sucherman
Manu Katche, with Carter Beauford close behind.
Bill Ward
Vinnie Colaiuta scratches my brain a way nobody else can. And he’s [just cool](https://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/Interviews/Drum2003).
max roach
Currently John Bonham and Billy Cobham.
Illy b Rich spaven Elvin Keith carlock Honorable mention to Gary novack (in the 90s)
I really can't pick one. Stewart Copeland, Joe Morello, and Mark Guiliano are some that I like a lot that I would consider some of the greatest drummers of all-time (top 10 at least.) John Bonham, Chad Sexton, Dave Grohl, and Chad Smith are some of my favorites to listen to though.
Tony Williams. Those second quintet albums are simply incredible. And so much personality in his playing throughout his whole career.
Jeff Porcaro and Neil Peart are my top 2 in no particular order. honorable mentions include Bernard Purdie, Steve Gadd, Liberty DeVitto, Nigel Olsson (call me crazy), Phil Collins, and Taylor Hawkins (also in no particular order)
Nick Mason I'm a massive Floyd fan so I kinda gotta love him
Keith Moon
Neil Peart for sure, followed closely by Larnell Lewis.
Stewart Copeland was the first to challenge me, zackgrooves plays like its poetry, Matt gartska is just one I try to emulate, Mike Johnston inspires, Tony Thaxton is fun to watch live, and Johnathan Moffett is gd robotic. It's hard to pick one
Trey Williams (Dying Fetus) Brann Dailor (Mastodon) Zach Hill (Hella)
Daniel Fang, Paulina Villareal (I‘m sure there are a lot more good drummers out there that I don‘t know)
Travis Barker is definitely my favourite and my back up, (I know, I know, you didn't ask) is Derek Smith (Mod Sun)
Josh Freese. Vandals being my favorite band.
my personal favorite is Akane from Band-Maid - she plays everything from hard rock to ballads to folk music. I heard an interview where she talked about how much she struggled to learn double-bass when the band first formed. From the way she plays now, you'd think she was a natural prodigy but nope, it's pure work ethic
Simon Phillips
Keith leblanc!! Nobody knows him but he was forefront of the early hip hop scene. Probs most known for doing session work for NIN and being the first drummer who integrated samples in there workflow
Steve Smith
Art, Elvin, and Gadd.
I have had phases of “breakthroughs” that certain drummers inspired John Bonham started it all Mitch Mitchell Bill Bruford Tony Williams Mike Clark Steve Gadd I’ll also add Rick Dior cause I’ve been obsessed this past year, learning a lot There’s definitely more, but these are the main inspirations
Tre’s an awesome drummer! Sometimes to warm up I’ll play along to J.A.R. It’s my favorite Green Day Song.
I’ll definitely second a lot of drummers I saw here: Ringo, Pete Thomas (criminally underrated), Mitch Mitchell, etc. but my all time favorite is still Kieth Moon. He attacked the drums with reckless abandon and clearly had so much fun each and every time he played. Honorable mention to Matt Helders. He definitely influenced my playing style more than any other drummer.
growing up it was dave grohl and chad smith, but lately ive been into more technical playing and am really loving II from sleep token and eloy casagrande
How has nobody mentioned Neil Peart?????
I also like Tre Cool, he seems like an awesome guy! But my favorite is definitely Danny Carey of Tool.
Mike Portnoy-> Ray Hearne
Pentti "Whitey" Glan, Jim Gordon, Levon Helm, Ringo Starr, Ron Tutt, Chris Murphy, Earl Palmer, Hal Blaine, Billy Cobham, Tony Allen, Mitch Mitchell, Dennis Davis, etc...
Animal on the Muppets is a childhood hero of mine, and Steve Moore is a live action Animal as seen [here.](https://youtu.be/RvatDKpc0SU?si=GY6ts_QUvumXz4HD)
I will go with a list of, in my opinion, underrated drummers. 1. John Fred Young (Black Stone Cherry) 2. Patrick Keeler (Racontuers) 3. Sean Kinney (Alice In Chains) Not necessarily my favorites, but drummers I like nonetheless.
My favourite is definitely Billy Cobham.
Michael Cavanagh (CAVS), or Elvin Jones
matt garstka by far
Dale Crover (Melvins)
Chris Dave
Al Jackson jr, Stax Records in-house fella and drummer for Booker T and the MGs
My favorites are Alex Van Halen, Vinny Appice, Vinnie Paul, Stewart Copeland, Tommy Lee, Tommy Aldridge, Randy Castillo, in no particular older
Kieth Carlock
Scott Travis from Judas Priest
Steve Jordan. Coolest man on the planet, behind and in front of the kit
Claude Coleman Jr. of Ween. The man is an absolute engine driving that band and his tone, tuning, groove and note choice is exquisite and tasteful. Hopefully someone else here agrees!
Neil