Hard to limit to 5 when you’re mixing rock, jazz and funk drummers. A lot of my favorites already mentioned, but Hayward is always near the top of my list. Surprised no one has listed Zigaboo Modeliste or Stanton Moore yet. Russell Batiste and Terrence Houston are two more Nola drummers that are bad a$$! No Clyde Stubbefield on anyone’s top 5 either.

Yes you guys are right. Top 5 is like having to list the top 5 most attractive actresses in the history of Hollywood. Get your top 5 down and suddenly you remember 5 more and someone will mention someone you didn't think of that you also like.

Technically Buddy Rich is my favorite but probably because I was exposed to him because he was on the Tonight Show and other TV shows so much in the 50's, 60', 70,s .

Then the drummers in your favorite bands will come to mind. That is why Butch and Jaimoe are my favorites. But I've seen a lot of great drummers it's hard to remember. I saw Cream, Emmerson, Lake and Palmer, The Who, Joe Cocker with Jim Gordon, Led Zeppelin etc etc. Maybe a list of 30 would be better. Then the order would drive you nuts.

Right on blackey. After I posted I started thinking of a bunch of other people too. Oh well.

If you are in to drums check out a Drummers Dream. I think it is still on Youtube. Pretty cool.

Mike Mangini is technically phenomenal.

There’s no mention of Billy Cobham, how crazy is that - Quadrant 4 bro

How about some love for Danny Seraphine.

Check out Igor Javad-Zade, drummer for a russian Chicago cover band ( tribute band ? ).
they have a lot of posts on YouTube. They are called Leonid & Friends.

Here is a vote for Stewart Copeland. I really love his skills.
carry on ....

Buddy explodes like a dad bum BOMB!!!!!!!

BAM, BAM, BAM ON THAT DAM DRUM

I always liked the way Steve Jordan accented Richard's guitar work.

The same thing goes for Joe Magistro, drummer for Rich Robinson. What he adds to RR playing is very tasteful and accentuates it also.

Some of my fav have passed on Bonham ,Powell.

Living drummers I like Joe and Steve, mentioned above.

Ian Paice
Andy Parker
John Tempesta
Martin Chambers
Jason Bonham

Neil Peart
Carl Palmer
Mike Portnoy
Phil Ehart
Bill Bruford
Danny Seraphine

Of course here our absolute favorite is Butch and Jaimoe playing together.

This is a guy I watch occasionally analyzing the great drummers.

This attempts to explain how Buddy Rich does his incredible ONE HAND ROLL. You sound like two sticks on the snare but it's actually one, freeing your right hand to play patterns on the toms.

What makes a good drummer? Fierce, flashy "thrashing" with a lot of rolls impresses many people. The basic hallmark of a good drummer lies in the ability (willingness?) to KEEP TIME. A lot of emphasis is placed on the guitarist, but in my own mind - the band can never be any better than the drummer. A crappy drummer can screw up the finest ensemble - whereas a good drummer can make a group of stiffs sound tolerable.

Besides those noted (the OBVIOUS 😉 )

Terry Williams (Rockpile, Dire Straits, Paul McCartney et al)
Jeff Sipe (Col Bruce ... everybody!)
Stewart Copeland (Police)
Glenn Kotchke (Wilco)
Tyler Greenwell and J.J. Johnson (Tedeschi/Trucks)

Here is the entire Buddy Rich solo the drum analyst above uses.

I saw Buddy's band once in the late 1970's and I've seen Cream, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen etc. Buddy is not my favorite but TECHNICALLY Buddy Rich is the best I've ever seen live. Some of the jazz and big band greats of the past are as good.

I think Neil Peart may be the one that I've seen live that could come close to Buddy Rich technically. But would Buddy have been able to drum in a hot rock band? I imagine, but not sure he could anchor a band like AC/DC or Van Halen. And it wasn't Buddy's bag. In the 1940's Buddy was in Tommy Dorsey when Frank Sinatra was there and he seemed to have stuck with that kind of music. He died in 1987 of brain cancer.