Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 100 Drummers of all Time - In My Opinion

#98 Steve Adler - G-n-R


It's no secret to my friends....I love the drums and drummers!  To me, the drums make the song.  About 6 months ago I came across a YouTube channel called "watchmojo.com" and listened to their top 10 list of drummers, top 10 female drummers and top 10 male drummers.  When I came across the Rolling Stone's top 100 drummers I was intrigued, to say the least.  

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-drummers-of-all-time-20160331

Over the weekend I painstakingly went through the list one by one, listened to the drummers that I could find on YouTube, researched their biographies, looked them up on Wikipedia, checked out photos on Google Images, etc.  Basically, i disappeared for two days. 

There are some drummers I had never heard of or had passed away before I was born.  But the men and women that I had the pleasure of listening to impressed me.  

I also disagreed with their list many, many times.  There were some pretty far down on the list that I thought were impressive at their craft, and some noteworthy drummers who didn't make the cut.  

First - the female drummers that made the cut and who they played with:

#97 Cindy Blackman - Lenny Kravitz,   she's great
#94 Meg White - The White Stripes
#90 Janet Weiss - Sleater-Kinney
#77 Moe Tucker - Velvet Underground
#58 Shiela E. - needs no introduction, she wails



Secondly, I'll discuss the entries that I thought were total CRAP!!  

#85 Tommy Lee - c'mon RS...seriously?  
#43 Phil Collins - as if!!  He should definitely be in the top 10
#36 Steve Smith (Journey) - RS have you ever listened to a Journey song???
and the saddest of all...

#27 Dave Grohl - Nirvana (scratch a temple) - How is he not #1??  



Dave Grohl is also notably considered by everyone in the business as "the nicest guy in show business".  That earned some points with me.  

Also on the list that I thought were pretty accurate are the following:

#26 Danny Carey - Tool; he can bang!
#14 Ringo Starr - the Beatles, solo projects
#4 Neil Peart - Rush; he does amazing solos

Notably absent from the list are several of my personal favorites:

Kevin Miller - Fuel (1997 - 2004)
Chad Gracey - Live (1980s - present)
Stephanie Eulinberg - Kid Rock (amazing drummer!)
Will Calhoun - Living Colour - he rocks it!
Tre Cool - Green Day (specifically the "American Idiot" album)

The biggest surprise that I found during my research is Gene Krupa. 



Before this weekend I had never heard of Gene Krupa, probably because he passed away in 1973. I was 8 years old.  I listened to a song that he banged on called "Sing, sing, sing" by Benny Goodman, and was blown away.  Gene Krupa is known as the first drum solotist and the father of the modern drumset. 

Well, that's my (humble) opinion.  Put that in there just for you mom.  Love ya!