Greatest Rock Drummers

Ringo was
the best drummer for The Beatles, Keith Moon the best for The Who (though Zak Starkey, Ringo’s kid, is doing a fantastic job in The Who now. I saw Keith with The Who live twice, and he was a possessed madman. I mean that literally).

Seeing Zak for with The Who a few years ago, I just blurted out to my son, 'he's better than Moon'. And he is.
I've seen both incarnations of the band and Keith, of course, was part of the band's legendary synergy (how much of that rested on Entwhistle?), but go back to any bootleg of a pedestrian Who show post '68 and if you're listening critically, Keith could be rather hit or miss. Good shows, bad shows, time & place, Zak is consistently good and in charge. He's a super talented, largely unsung, drummer.

How about Terry Bozio? Listen to both Frank Zappa and the son's album, "Zappa Plays Zappa". Between Steve Vai, Terry and other FZ alumni, the drums really carry a lot of the songs. One example of Terry's prowess is the written for Jack Bruce to play song, Apostrophe, as well as that album and it's predecessor, "Overnight Sensation".

...which also has Jean-Luc Ponty.

My favorites, rock, jazz players who became rock drummers, and jazz (most are still alive):
Billy Cobham
Ginger Baker
John Bonham
Jack DeJohnette
Steve Gadd (great session drummer)
Mitch Mitchell (he really help make the Experience what it was)
Keith Moon
Airto Moreira (soft touch)
Joe Morello (I grew with him in Wilton, CT - worked with Dave Brubeck, unfortunately, lost his hearing)
Antonio Sánchez
Narada Michael Walden
Paul Wertico
Tony Williams
-Gerry