Drummers, Ranked

Bonham's thunderous groove and foot speed on tracks like 'Good Times Bad Times' and 'When the Levee Breaks' made him the most sampled and imitated rock drummer ever. He is routinely voted the greatest rock drummer in Rolling Stone and Modern Drummer polls.

Peart paired a monstrous 360-degree kit with airtight precision and wrote most of Rush's lyrics, redefining progressive rock drumming across songs like 'Tom Sawyer' and 'YYZ.' He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1983 at age 30, its youngest inductee ever.

Rich was a self-taught prodigy with blinding single-stroke speed and control widely called the greatest technician the drums have ever seen. He led his own big band for decades and became a fixture of Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.

Moon turned drumming into lead-instrument chaos, playing fills where most players kept time on 'Won't Get Fooled Again' and 'My Generation.' His anarchic style influenced generations even as it defied any rulebook.

Baker brought jazz and African polyrhythms into rock, and his 'Toad' was one of the first extended rock drum solos on record. He is often credited as a founding father of heavy rock drumming.

Copeland fused reggae, punk and jazz into a bright, hi-hat-driven style all over 'Roxanne' and 'Message in a Bottle.' Readers of Rolling Stone voted him one of the greatest drummers of all time.

Carey builds Tool's music around odd time signatures and polymeters, playing pieces like 'Pneuma' and 'Ticks & Leeches' with jaw-dropping independence. He's a modern benchmark for progressive metal drumming.

Grohl's hard-hitting, hook-conscious drumming powered 'Nevermind,' and his fills on 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' are instantly recognizable. He later fronted Foo Fighters, proving rare range from behind and in front of the kit.

Krupa made the drummer a star in Benny Goodman's band and his showcase on 'Sing, Sing, Sing' put the tom-tom groove at center stage. At his urging, Slingerland developed the modern kit's tunable tom-toms.

Gadd's iconic groove on Paul Simon's '50 Ways to Leave Your Lover' and Steely Dan's 'Aja' made him the most in-demand session drummer of the 1970s and '80s. His feel is studied by drummers worldwide.

Collins was a formidable progressive drummer with Genesis before the gated-reverb fill on 'In the Air Tonight' became one of the most famous drum moments in pop history. His feel earns respect even from skeptics of his solo pop.

Questlove anchors hip-hop's premier live band with a deep, human-feel pocket heard nightly on The Tonight Show. He's also a six-time Grammy winner and an Oscar-winning cultural historian of the music.

Starr is unfairly underrated: his distinctive feel and inventive fills on 'Come Together' and 'A Day in the Life' shaped how pop drums are recorded. His left-handed setup on a right-handed kit gave his playing its unmistakable lopsided swing.

Smith's funk-rock pocket has locked with Flea's bass since 1988 across hits like 'Give It Away' and 'Californication.' He is a reliably powerful groove drummer and RHCP is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Barker is pop-punk's most visible drummer, adding busy, hip-hop-influenced fills that made Blink-182's rhythm tracks stand out. His technical flash is real even if the pop-punk material rarely stretches him.

Lee is a hard-hitting showman famous for his rotating, upside-down drum roller coaster more than for subtlety. He's a solid arena-rock timekeeper whose spectacle outruns his chops.

Ulrich co-founded and drives the biggest metal band on earth, but his timing and technique are the most debated among serious drummers, and the drum tone on 'St. Anger' is widely mocked. Influence: enormous; execution: contested.

White's deliberately primitive, minimalist beats were essential to The White Stripes' garage-rock sound and 'Seven Nation Army.' Judged purely on drumming technique, though, she is the most openly disputed name in any 'best drummers' argument.