Seconded – Burke hardly ever gets called out in threads like this. Super-versatile stylistically, and a great time-keeper who consistently mixed in cool fills without losing even a millisecond.
Another great call. Thompson and the oft-mentioned Phil Collins played side-by-side behind Led Zeppelin at Live Aid in 1985. Now, Phil had just come off of a jet from London, and he didn’t rehearse the Zeppelin songs very much. But Thompson really carried the drumming that day – Collins was looking over at Thompson constantly to maintain the beat.
Of the others mentioned: Thomas Lang, Alex Van Halen, Iain Paice, Clyde Stubblefield, Carl Palmer, and Vinny Colaiuta deserve more than one mention. It floors me that Colaiuta is essentially Michael Buble’s house drummer now (nothing against Buble, mind you).
Of those yet unmentioned, I’d say the best are Steve Smith (jazz great formerly with Journey), Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), Rod Morgenstein (Dixie Dregs, Winger), and Aynsley Dunbar (preceded Smith in Journey, also with Jeff Beck, Jefferson Starship, and Whitesnake).
Meg White is the cutest. I didn’t say technically the best. 
Thank you, bordelond.
Thompson’s drums are probably at their most prominent in his Power Station recordings, but when you start listening to his work with Chic or even his session stuff with Madonna or David Bowie or wherever, it becomes pretty clear (to me at any rate) that he had a very distinctive style aa well as the ability to suit his sound to that of the music, which isn’t always an easy feat to pull off.
I also like Alex Van Halen.
It’s criminial that this thread reached the second page before his name was mentioned.
Most of the big time guns are mentioned, but I think that Billy Cobham and Grady Tate deserve some props.
Oh, and what do you call a drummer that just broke up with his girlfriend?
Homeless.
Neil Peart
Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden) - the guy’s incredibly musical
I’ll also add former Judas Priest drummer Dave Holland, for similar reasons why people credit AC/DC’s Phil Rudd. He never played anything spectacular, but there was a distinct change in Priest’s sound/style when he joined the band and I think it’s significant that his tenure with the band happened to coincide with Priest’s most successful years. It’s as if he was fully aware that the focus of the band was Halford, Tipton, and Downing, and so he just sat back and locked in with bassist Ian Hill to produce a solid underlying groove to support the vocals and guitars. His fills were never all that complex, but they were always exactly right and in just the right places.
As a failed drummer (one who realized early on that he has NO sense of rhythm), I have to acknowledge all of the great names previously mentioned and give a shout out to Clem Burke of Blondie as well.
Just listen to a live version of Under the Gun… relentless as an angry yellowjacket and he keeps time with Swiss precision.
I may be somwhat biased as Blondie is one of my all-time favorite bands…
I forgot to add this earlier:
How do you know it’s a drummer knocking on your door?
The knocking keeps speeding up.
There’s a slightly longer version of that punchline which I like better:
The knock speeds up and he doesn’t know when to come in.
I’ll throw out a couple dark-horses and a probably never-heard-of:
Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick and Carter Beauford from Dave Matthews Band, probably their respective band’s best musicians.
And Cody Dickinson from North Mississippi Allstars. Not a very well known band, but I caught them on Conan O’Brien a couple of years ago and was immediately impressed with this kid’s percussion. Very weird time signatures, and spot on time, and powerful and smooth. You gotta check them out.
Oh, and the one I heard was:
How do you get a drummer off your porch?
Give him the ten dollars and take your pizza.
Damn. Beaten to it.
Lotsa the greats already mentioned, so I’m going to shout out for blues musician Sam Carr, because he’s 82 now, and has kept the beat for decades. Son of bluesman Robert Nighthawk, he played with Sonny Boy Williamson, and has really held it all together in the Mississippi Delta Blues community, playing to this day.
Gotta say, Sam disperses the irresponsible drummer motif: in my experience, he was the band member who really held it together. He was always well-dressed, and I was amazed by how well-put together his clothes came right out of the suitcase, when everyone else had clothes in a mish mash. At 70 some, when I drove him on tour, he had the arm muscles of a 30 year old, and could play well into the night. I just love his great self to pieces. You have to admire someone who can still cut it way on ito the elder years.
Meant to add too, to second Jack Batty’s addition of Cody Dickinson; Cody learned from Sam Carr, as well as the North Mississippi fife and drum tradition of Othar Turner. He and his bro, Luther, have carried it all well on.
This is a great thread. Many of my faves are already here: Stewart Copeland, Tony Thompson,
Topper Headon - love how he gave The Clash dimensions… made their reggae/ska/hip-hop excursions work
Dave Rowntree (Blur) - incredibly versatile… he can play anything!
Everett Morton (English Beat) - greatest Two-Tone drummer in my book
Dave Grohl & Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) - technically great and fun to watch. It’s gotta be tough being the drummer in a band led by a drummer!
Rob Hirst (Midnight Oil) - power, man, power! Also one of the first guys I remember in the 80s who played with electronic drums as well as acoustics.
Rick Buckler (The Jam) - played with this great military sound. I’m thinking “Eton Rifles.”
Stephen Morris (Joy Division, New Order) - another drummer who isn’t afraid to use drum machines. Brilliant sense of rhythm.
Gary Husband (Level 42) - I know him through his work with Level 42, but I know he’s one of the world’s most respected drummers. Amazing.
Martin Chambers (Pretenders) - For a group supposed to be composed of post-punks they have some of the most complicated time signatures I’ve heard… Chambers was flawless.
Bill Berry (R.E.M.) - My favorite thing about I.R.S.-era R.E.M. was Berry’s playing. The band simply isn’t the same since his departure.
Mike Joyce (The Smiths) - the glue that held the band together sonically. I heard a remix of “This Charming Man” with a drum machine… it was dire.
Gilson Lavis (Squeeze) - he looks like a bouncer but he’d played with legends like Chuck Berry before the band.
Terry Chambers (XTC) - one of those guys who sounds like a percussionist savant. In the early days he was straight ahead, loud… as the group progressed he started all kinds of cool stuff. “Making Plans for Nigel,” “English Roundabout,” “Respectable Street…” all amazing drum tracks.
If you want to know more about many of these drummers (or drumming in general) an excellent resource is Drummerworld.
Some of the greats that have been overlooked (in no particular order):
Phil Ehart (Kansas)
Richie Hayward (Little Feat)
Michael Shrieve (Santana, among others. He’s the kid in the Woodstock movie.)
Tommy Aldridge
Prarie Prince
Alan White (Yes)
Bill Lordan (Robin Trower)
Lenny White (Return To Forever)
Stix Hooper (Crusaders)
Matt Abts (Gov’t Mule and I can’t believe Marley missed him)
Manu Katché (Weather Report and Peter Gabriel)
Zoltan Czorsz (you’ve probably not heard of him, but he’s played with the Flower Kings, Kaipa, Kino and Karmakanics that I know about. Definitely worth checking out.)
Jaime Salazar (Zoltan’s replacement in Flower Kings. Both are Portnoy/prog type drummers.)
Tommy Taylor (Eric Johnson)
Michael Travis (String Cheese Incident and Zilla)
Has nobody mentioned Buddy Miles or Billy Cobham? How about “Future Man” Wooten?
Some more studio/session and jazz players:
Omar Hakim
Steve Gadd
Roger Hawkins
Bernard Purdie
Jim Keltner
Jim Gordon
Russ Kunkel
Casey Scheurell
Alphonse Mouzon
I’ve learned something from every one of these people. Mostly I learned, “Don’t quit your day job.”
Also, no one who’s ever played with Frank Zappa, Miles Davis or Santana should be overlooked.
It’s Page Two already and Topper Headon has only received one mention so far?
For shame!
His skills in jazz, ska, reggae and even disco beats allowed The Clash to grab these musical styles and put their distinctive stamp on them.
Oh, and by the way, what’s the difference between a drummer and a large pizza?
The pizza can feed a family of four!
Great catch. Gadd gets a lifetime pass for the snare on “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”
Agreed - Terry Bozzio and Vinny Colaiuta have gotten their due in this thread.
After thinking about it for a while I have to say that since we are talking about favorite drummer, not the best, I have to say Animal who was the drummer for Dr. Teeth And The Electric Mayhem.