I've mulled this question for a while. I've always been most of all a Zeppelin fan and partial to John Bonham, but lately I have come around to think that he wasn't the greatest, but is a close second. My pick for greatest drummer is Ringo Starr. All of the Beatles songs have a distinct character of perfection, and Ringo was instrumental to that. Plus, he could sing. I think one of the best songs he ever did was "It Don't Come Easy", a song given to him by George Harrison, where he played drums and sang great. He was flawless in keeping time, with his fills and tempo changes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emKEFXWk4Yc

The rest:

2. John Bonham - Led Zeppelin
3. Keith Moon - the Who
4. Stewart Copeland - the Police
5. Ginger Baker - Cream

Honorable Mention

Bill Ward
Neil Peart

Neil Peart
Bonham
Matt Cameron
Keith Moon
Jimmy Chamberlain

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Joey Jordison
Questlove
Glenn Kotche
Keith Moon
Danny Carey

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I am the liquor Randy

Clem Burke - Blondie
Levon Helm - The Band
Neal Smith - Alice Cooper
Keith Moon - The Who
Gary Moffatt - .38 Special

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Host of the weekly "We Fish ASA" podcast
Weekly columnist for the Northwest Herald
Bi-monthly columnist for Illinois Outdoor News magazine
Former host of The Outdoors Experience on WIND and The Great Outdoors on CLTV
http://www.wefishasa.com

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"Now comes good sailing. Moose. Indian."

Peart
Copeland
Bill Bruford
Marco Minnemann
Gavin Harrison

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Not a mult.

Jim Colao
Virus X
Clem Burke
Earl Hudson
Gus Roman

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Mikey Struif

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Neil Peart, Alex Van Halen, Lars Ulrich, everyone else I guess?

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Elections have consequences.

Lars?
Lars??!


He's kinda shitty.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Counterpoint

But yeah, 99% of the time he kinda sucks.

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"Now comes good sailing. Moose. Indian."

Bonham
Moon
Copeland
Collins
Starr

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Bonham
Moon
Copeland
Collins
Starr

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Yeah Copeland too. You can keep Bingham and Moon. Overrated. bill Ward.

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Elections have consequences.

any love for that one-armed guy from def leppard?

otherwise my goofy answer for this is, uhhh, i believe his name is dodo? when mouse on mars used to do tours around the turn of the millennium they'd have the 2 dudes who comprise mouse on mars set up with a moog synthesizer with 15 guitar pedals, and then the other dude would have some samplers/sequencers/etc.... but then they had a third guy, a drummer [who i believe was named dodo] who had a regular drum kit supplanted by like 4-6 electronic pads that could be assigned with any sound/sample/etc..... so then when they played all of their "hit" songs they'd do these extended live jam versions that would be 7-8mins+ and they'd all rock out, especially that drummer who could go off on not just traditional drumming but also whatever zany sounds they wanted to add to recreate the electronically-produced-beats.

i saw mouse on mars do ^^^^that^^^^ setup back in 2001. suffice to say around 03-04 when i heard some new live show bootlegs and i heard these phenomenally awesome tracks/jams/etc i was beyond psyched for this tour making it to chicago. when it did i went over to the double door and was damn near twitching with anticipation to see them kill it..... but then just the two dudes came out with one laptop, i made some kind of "#TwoDudesOneLaptop <<< #TwoGirlsOneCup" joke..... and yeah i haven't been too worried about seeing mouse on mars for the last ~13+ years #NoDodoNoParty =/

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That's a pretty good list . I approve . Maybe some love for Jeff Porcaro?

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

How about by track?

1. Ringo - It Don't Come Easy

2. John Bonham - Whole Lotta Love

3. Keith Moon - Love Reign Over Me

4. Stewart Copeland - Don't Stand So Close To Me

5. Ginger Baker - White Room

H.M.

Bill Ward - Children of the Grave

Neil Peart - Tom Sawyer


All Geniuses

Neil Peart (Rush)
Ed Warby (Ayreon)
Mike Mangini (Dream Theater)
Phil Collins (Genesis)
Johnny Sandin (Seventh Wonder)

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

The Mount Carmel High School library once owned a book which stated that the three best drummers "of all time" were Mitch Mitchell, Mick Fleetwood, and Nick Mason. Interesting list, but strange.

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It seemed like M Fleetwood was the perennial winner as best drummer in Playboy's annual music awards issue.

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You guys should try listening to music made after the 70's

There was music made after the 70's? Are you bullshitting me?

_________________
Host of the weekly "We Fish ASA" podcast
Weekly columnist for the Northwest Herald
Bi-monthly columnist for Illinois Outdoor News magazine
Former host of The Outdoors Experience on WIND and The Great Outdoors on CLTV
http://www.wefishasa.com

Oh well then in that case my favorite drummer is Boss DR-880 Dr. Rhythm.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

i will always be a mike portnoy guy. i saw dream theater twice and he was just fucking amazing.

The Pumpkins original drummer was damn good, Jimmy Chamberlain.

Tonight, Tonight has to be one of the all-time greats. Or Disarm with the bells.

I was kind of torn whether to go with Portnoy or Mangini...I can see either choice for different reasons.

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Good call on Clem Burke

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How could I forgot John Densmore in the End?

I would put him into my five and drop Ginger Backer in the H.M.

I would rather watch Keith Moon play drums than Jimi Hendrix play guitar.

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I don't remember half the time if I'm hiding or I'm lost