Greatest Rock Drummers

Einmensch
i have also played drums for over 55 years and from your list, I would only pick Mitch mitchell and Jon bohnam for very good drummers. If you want the very best, I would say Mike Portnoy. He has won dozens of best drummer awards, been inducted in the hall of fame at an early age (maybe the youngest). This guy is so technical. His kid Max is also pretty good. Ginger Baker was pretty good too but pretty basic. I do agree that jazz drummers are usually very good. Blues drummers and pop music drummers are there to keep a beat and that’s about it. Charlie and Ringo, not good technically, but keep a beat for their kind of music. Mickey Dolenz was a better drummer than Charlie and Ringo and Mickey didn’t know how to play in the beginning.

audiolabyrinth, I agree, most of the posters have not heard Mike Portnoy. He can do more with his feet than most of the posted drummers can do with their hands. Neal is good but pretty basic. Listen to some older Dream Theater with Mike and then listen to some Rush songs: Rush songs are basic in nature. Dream Theater changes tempo all the time and the drum rifts are complex in nature. Ian with Deep Purple is also very good and Bohnam was excellent. For posters that indicate Ringo and Charlie are good drummers don’t know what a good drummer is. I could teach somebody to play a Beatles song or a Rolling Stones song in very little time. It is very hard to duplicate Mike Portnoy even with many years experience