For me it's Stephen Morris, AKA the Macclesfield Metronome, the only drummer who could put Roland drum machines out of business

 

Myself. But, I can't play that well yet. So future me. Cuz current me is trash.

 

Ringo Starr, obviously.
Everybody can play like a drum machine (specially nowadays) but noone can play like Ringo, even in his dreams...

 

Last edited: Apr 30, 2022

Toontrack. Anything by them.

 

not sure if he's my favorite drummer but he's one of a kind - here's a great documentary about him - both good and bad

 

So many great drummers out there so it's impossible to choose.

But I've always been partial to Bill Bruford's technique, style, and sound.

...or Vinnie Colaiuta

...or Joey Baron

I could come up with a zillion others, and this is already too much, sorry about that.

 

+1 to this doc. It's fantastic and Mr. Baker was a proper loony.

 

BB, Vinnie... Terry Bozio... yes, Ringo... Phil Collins (in the 70s), those are probably the main growing up influences, but then get me going I swear I could name a hundred. Steve Smith... and Buddy Rich by god, nobody could solo like that guy.

 

I'm a big Ringo fan, but they are different types of drummers. Morris powered two new musical genres with his impeccable timing. Some good stuff in this sound check video below.

 

Last edited: May 1, 2022

Greyson Nekrutman

 

Off the top of my head:

Mark Zonder

Stephen Shelton

 

For me, growing up ( I was primarily a drummer) Billy Cobham

 

Last edited: Apr 30, 2022

The guy who actually played the drums on Whiplash OST

 

Cobham is a genius, for those who have not heard the fusion masterpiece of an album, "Spectrum", do so ASAP. Here it is (in spoiler tags not to pollute the thread further):

Spoiler

 

Agree with the... Phil Collins (in the 70s), Bruford, Cobham and don´t forget Jon Hiseman. I´ll only add Jack deJohnette. Nowadays there are no new drummers that tall.

 

Brian Blade, Gerald Cleaver, Dan Weiss.

 

And that's the thing; Ringo would have sucked in Rush, Neal Peart would have sucked in The Beatles. Is Nick Mason an objectively "great" drummer? Probably not, but he was the right drummer for Floyd. And I think Carl Palmer basically sucked after 1971 but I get why people dig him.

Here's another: Michael Shrieve (Santana)