The Five Greatest Drummers of All Time

The drummer is a key part to a good band. He/she keeps the beat while wailing out the rocking fills or the oh so rare drum solo. There are many many great drummers, but I would like to point out my 5 favorites. I am a drummer myself, and these are a few of my idols. Starting with number 5:

1. Nicko McBrain

   
   
   Nicko is the drummer for the very popular band, Iron Maiden. He joined Iron Maiden in December 1982. Nicko has contributed a lot to Iron Maiden, and his style fits perfectly with them. There is not really much more to say about him... Go listen to Iron Maiden and you will see how great he is.

2. Stewart Copeland

   
   
   
   Copeland was born in Alexandria, Virginia. A while after he was born, his family moved to Cairo, Egypt. Why you ask? I have no idea. In 1957 he moved to Beirut, Lebanon, where he attended an American community school. Not to long after, he started taking drum lessons at age twelve. Amazingly, he was playing at school dances just a year later when he was thirteen years old. Quite a quick learner if you ask me. He moved again in 1967 to England. He went to college in California. He once again returned to England 1975. This is when Copeland started playing drums for a band called Curved Air.
   
   In 1982, Copeland got married to the Curved Air vocalist, but got divorced sometime in the 1990's. While married, Copeland fathered three sons: Sven, Jordan, and Scott. They are all involved in music one way or another. Copeland's brother was manager of The Police at the time, and saw how great Copeland was on the throne. Stewart became the drummer for The Police.
   
   Copeland is one of my favorites because of his Jazzy-type drumming. Some of his signature sounds are hitting the rim of the snare, and playing only the hi-hat and bass drum some of the time. Copeland lends a "groove" to the band, and his drumming is very entertaining to follow along with. In songs such as "Message In A Bottle", you can hear his work on the hi-hat during the chorus. He also plays some amazing fills to go with his drumming. Copeland is one of the few drummers who uses a traditional grip instead of the popular matched grip.

3. Tommy Lee

   
   
   Lee was born in Athens, Greece. He moved to California when he was only one year old. He got his first drum kit when he was a teenager, enjoying bands such as Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, and Kiss. Lee was in a school marching band for a short time, but dropped out eventually to work on his drumming career. He met Nikki Sixx a while after. Sixx was impressed by Lee's drumming and they started to jam. Afterwards, they recruited Mick Mars. Mars told Lee about a singer who Tommy had met at school before. Motley Crue was formed.
   
   Motley Crue became very popular right off the bat with their debut album released. Lee has had some crazy ideas at concerts. He would often do weird things while he was drumming such as having his entire kit spin around while playing, having the kit float above the crowd, or even play upside down! He left Motley Crue after he got arrested in 1998.
   
   Lee is one of my favorite drummers because of the stunts he pulls at gigs, and his hard rock playing style.

4. Neil Peart

   
   
   Neil is the drummer for the great Canadian band, Rush. He is one of, if not the, best drummer that ever lived. When Peart was eighteen years old, he got tired of looking for a band in Canada, so he traveled to London. He had no money in London, so he had to sell stuff from a stand to support himself. While he was in London, he found his favorite writer, Ayn Rand. The books played a huge part in Pearts song writing lyrically. You will here references to books that Ayn Rand had wrote in songs such as "Tom Sawyer".
   
   Peart finally left London after unsuccessfully finding a place for him there, and returned to Canada. Once he got back to Canada, he worked for his father in St. Catharines. Shortly after, he auditioned for the band Rush. Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee saw the audition. In Pearts opinion, the audition went horribly, but once he talked to Lee, they found out that they shared the same interests in books and music. Lee and Lifeson had discussed it over, and decided that Pearts Keith Moon type drumming was just what Rush needed.
   
   Peart is one of the greatest drummers of all time because of the sheer amount of skill he has. Not only that, but he writes songs too! How many drummers do that? Peart is one of the only people who actually switched from matched grip to traditional grip long after he began playing. He was also known to use the big end of the drumstick to play with. Peart is also known for his massive drum kit, with every drum you could
   imagine. 
   
   
   
   Peart has mastered the art of drum solos. He can play a very long solo, while keeping it going for minutes. He also uses very odd time signatures within his solos. He uses a wide range of instruments such as the cowbell, wind chimes, a gong, temple blocks, and many more.

5. Keith Moon

   
   
   
   Keith Moon is my favorite drummer of all time. As a child he was very energetic. The only thing that could ever hold his attention for more than 5 minutes was music. Moon failed an important exam, and left school in 1961. Moon was a Bugle player in the Sea Cadet Corps, but traded it for the position of drummer. He officially started playing the drums at fourteen years of age when his father bought him a drum kit. He took lessons until he joined a band called The Escorts. Later he moved to a band called The Beachcombers. Originally Moon played R&B style, but he played faster and louder than most players, which made him unique.
   
   In April 1964, Moon joined The Who. Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey recruited Moon after ripping up the drums at the auditions. Moon later got the idea of putting two drum kits together for a wider range of drums. While The Who was performing, they would often destroy their instruments after the show. This was imitated by many other artists. Moon loved the idea of this, often destroying his drums brutally, or even loading them with explosives! Moon once filled clear drums with water, and put goldfish in them while playing the drums.
   
   Moon wanted to lend his voice to The Who very often, but the other members did not think it was a good idea. He was often kicked out during the recording of vocals on their albums. You can actually hear Moon singing on many tracks.
   
   Moon's drumming style made The Who very famous. You can hear one of my favorite drum solos on the track, Won't Get Fooled Again.
   
   Finally, Moon died in September 6th, 1978, when he was invited to be Paul McCartney's guest at a film preview of The Buddy Holly Story. He died from an overdose of medication he was taking to help him quit using alcohol. Moon died only a couple weeks after Who's Next had been released. On the cover Moon was sitting on a chair labeled "Not to be taken away".

So there you have it. I hope I've increased your knowledge on some of the most famous drummers ever.

Thanks for reading!