Greatest Rock Drummers

There were rare moments back in the late 60's and early 70's where the fusion of drums and instruments blended so well together in a handful 
of live rock/blues concert's that will go down in history as the greatest concerts ever that not even Jimi Hendrix could ascend to in a live concert format due to the explosive, atomic power these bands played on stage which were their peak performances of all time. The live concerts were "The Who" Live at Leeds. Creams live performances on their "Wheels of Fire" album at the Winterland and the Filmore auditoriums in early 1968.
The live "Yes" "Starship Trooper concert's. Joe Cocker and "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" at the Filmore East in 1970 which went nationwide as a major motion picture. Led Zeppelin first album tour concerts 1968/69. The Allman Brother's "Eat a Peach" live concert. In The 80's hats off to Rush's live 1984 concert in Montreal, and U2's "Joshuah Tree" tour concerts 1986/87.

I would agree the various studio drummers listed above are probably the greatest overall drummers recorded (Steve Gadd, Bernard Purdie, Jim Keltner, etc.). Yes some will go on tour  with certain acts (James Taylor/Steve Gadd), but I don't think they are correctly classified as "rock" drummers. I saw The Killers this weekend. The Killers’ Ronnie Vannucci, Jr. rocked his drums for 2+ hours non-stop. Terrific show--I highly recommend it. Is he the greatest rock drummer ever? I doubt it. Do we know who was or is? No. Does Vannucci play with power, speed, and creativity plus know what a rock drummer needs to do in concert to make the audience feel good about spending big money to be there? Yep.  
 

Say what you will about John Bonham, he was the perfect drummer for LZ. He defined their sound, often imitated but never duplicated.

Even the great Carmine Appice can't play Zeppelin...

https://youtu.be/lC2DOsS88hw

Forgive me if I post this wrong..

Jethro Tull "Improvisation #9"

I was reminded of it when I heard on the radio the other day.. F...#ig Awesome!

Stewart Copeland

Sting wrote great melodies and lyrics and Andy was a brilliant rhythm and lead guitarist but Copeland is what actually made the Police really interesting vs everything else at the time. I remember hearing Message in a Bottle for the first time and being immediately mesmerized by the drums. This is a rare thing to experience in music. Roxanne is a pop hit that is really a Tango! Crazy ideas that somehow worked. Image if Roxanne had been the Bossa Nova that Sting originally envisioned.

A great innovator

https://youtu.be/pWfP3GHMgqc