Greatest Rock Drummers


Given the subject line many names come to mind such as  Ginger Baker, Keith Moon, Phil Collins and Carl Palmer but, is Neil Peart the greatest rock drummer of all time?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSToKcbWz1k
128x128falconquest
IMO to answer your question falaconquest, no he is not. There are just to many techniques/styles in drumming for one single drummer to be considered better than all the others.

And now for something completely different;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaTmgcKeiC0
There is sizzle and there is steak...one mention of Steve Gadd, but no mentions of Bernard Purdie who can include Jeff Beck, Steely Dan, The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, etc on his resume. Spent a wonderful evening at Shanghai Jazz in NJ sitting 20 feet away from Mssr Purdie and it was one night I'll not soon forget. Honorable mention to Steve Jordan, whom we saw a month or so ago with John Mayer. Not a lead drummer like Moonie or Mitch Mitchell, but, like Ferrone, a highly nuanced percussion machine that can turn the beat inside out and back again if need be and still remain musical.
Steve Gadd, without question. Rock, Jazz, you name it. Incredible range of great performances with many many performers.
Phil Selway of Radiohead. jazzy polyrhythmic madness. phenomenal drummer he is.
These 'best of' lists are tough and very subjective, which is why they attract so much attention on forums such as A'gon.  So many of you have terrific suggestions.
Best rock drummer doesn't mean much as rock music doesn't require a lot of drumming talent since there's not much need to play odd time signatures or complete 4-limb independence.  I appreciate drummers that have melodic fills that you remember like a great guitar riff. IMO, Mitch Mitchell had the most melodic and memorable fills I've heard and very difficult to replicate. Just listen to the catchy fills in the song, 'Wait til tomorrow', or the explosive back & forth exchanges with Jimi Hendrix on songs like 'Fire' and 'Manic Depression'.  Then there's the unbelievable solo style work near the end of 'If 6 was 9'.
Clearly Mitch's roots were jazz and not rock, which is likely the reason his pairing with Hendrix worked so well as Mitchell introduced an upbeat swing style approach that kept the music flowing.  IMO, drummers like Bonham or Baker would have failed miserably trying to keep up with Hendrix. Just listen to the quality of songs when Buddy Miles was paired with Hendrix.  Like Baker & Bonham, Miles was a great groove master, but lacked melodic feeling. What I'll never understand is that Mitchell was a terrible soloist.  He never had a theme to his solos, they just kind of meandered, which is completely opposite to his drumming style with Hendrix.
Another honorable mention is Ringo. He has to be considered as one of the all time best contributors to the band he was in.  Admittedly he lacks technical chops, but think of all the simple yet innovative & memorable drum rhythms he laid down on many Beatles songs. Brilliant.