The Best 1990s Drummers Of All Time Ranked

Before motorized transport became widespread, drummers played a key role in military conflicts. Military drummers provided drum cadences that set a steady marching pace and elevated troop morale on the battlefield. In some armies drums also assisted in combat by keeping cadence for firing and loading drills with muzzle loading guns. Military drummers were also employed on the parade field, when troops passed in review, and in various ceremonies including ominous drum rolls accompanying disciplinary punishments. Children also served as drummer boys well into the nineteenth century, though less commonly than is popularly assumed; due to the nature of the job, experienced older men were preferred. Here the best 1990s Drummers ranked.

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20. Igor Cavalera

“Igor Graziano Cavalera is a Brazilian musician. He is best known as the former drummer for Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura, which he co-founded with his brother Max in 1984. Max left the band in 1996, and Cavalera himself would depart ten years later, making him the last original member of Sepultura to leave the band.”

19. Nick Menza

“He was a beast in his prime. The intro to “addicted to chaos” still gets me every time I hear it…25 years later. Simple, precise, powerful and just the perfect sound. Matter of fact, I may go listen to it right now followed by a complete spin of…Rust In Peace. Thanks for the music and for being part of the best group of guys to put up with Mustaine!”

17. Jeremiah Green

“I think Jeremiah is an honorable mention to say the least, he gives Modest Mouse the distinctive sound and rhythm that separates the band from other indie bands and needless to say he is great at what he does and rocks hard”

16. Philip Selway

“He’s just an incredibly underrated drummer, who deserves a spot for his immensely technical drumming, which has helped to define Radiohead’s sound. Listen to Pyramid Song, 2+2=5, or Little By Little to understand why he belongs here.”

15. Eric Kretz

“Eric Kretz is an American musician and producer, best known as the drummer for the rock band Stone Temple Pilots. He is of German descent. He has also played for Talk Show and Spiralarms.”

14. David Silveria

“He contributed to the first seven albums by the alt-metal outfit before taking a hiatus from the group in 2006, with drummers such as Terry Bozzio and late Slipknot member Joey Jordison filling in for him live. Subsequently, Korn tapped Ray Luzier as their new full-time drummer in 2008”

13. Mike Bordin

“Michael Andrew Bordin is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Faith No More. He has amicably been known as “Puffy”, “Puffster” or “The Puff”, in reference to the afro hair style he wore in the early 1980s.”

12. Tré Cool 

“Without Green Day there would have been no ’90s punk resurgence. And without Tre Cool, there probably wouldn’t ever have been a Green Day. Their national major­label debut, Dookie, was propelled by Cool’s dynamite punk drumming, a highly athletic display of precision oomph that body­slammed a whole generation back into the mosh pit. While Cool and his bandmates almost single-handedly spawned a huge wave of new punk and ska bands, very few drummers emerged on the national scene that could match his chops—or success.”

11. Dave Abbruzzese

“After original Pearl Jam drummer Dave Krusen left in 1991, the mantle was passed to Abbruzzese, whose timing couldn’t have been more perfect. When the band signed onto the 1992 Lollapalooza tour, its debut disc, Ten, had barely dented the charts. By the end of the tour, the album overshadowed all of the releases by the festival’s other co-headliners. While Abbruzzese only recorded two albums with Pearl Jam—Vs. in 1993 and parts of Vitology in 1994—he made a lasting impression on the minds of rock drummers with his sophisticated ambidexterity and power fusion chops.”

10. Sean Kinney

“Sean Howard Kinney is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band Alice in Chains. Kinney also founded the short-lived supergroup Spys4Darwin, and has collaborated with other artists such as Johnny Cash and Metallica.”

9. Neil Peart

“The Professor, but modest enough to want to be seen as a student. His drumming provides not one, but two extra instruments – rhythm and atmosphere. He is astonishing live, and must be one of the rare musicians who can not only reproduce exactly what was laid down in the studio, but improve on it! Just glad to have lived through his career, seen him live and grown up enjoying a Neil Peart beat to my life.”

8. Brad Wilk

“Bradley J. “Brad” Wilk is a musician, actor, and activist from the United States. He is best known as the drummer of the rock bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and Prophets of Rage. The bridge section in Killing in the Name of is one my favorite drum parts ever. I also really liked his Audioslave parts. This guy is just awesome.”

7. Vinnie Paul

“Alongside his late brother Dimebag Darrell, he co-founded the Heavy Metal Bands Pantera and Damageplan, with whom he would find success with in the former. After the passing of Dimebag and the dissolution of Damageplan, Vinnie would later join another band, Hellyeah. Vinnie died of a heart attack in June 2018.”

6. Matt Cameron

“While Seattle gave us the primitive thrash of Nirvana’s Dave Grohl, it also gave us the muscular finesse of Soundgarden’s Matt Cameron. Heavy enough to match Kim Thayl’s chick guitar tones, but always peppering his grooves with Elvin-ish polyrhythmic phrasing, Cameron helped propel the group from “Big Dumb Sex” to the many alternative staples throughout Badmotorfinger and Superunknown. Whether simply grooving, navigating odd­meters, or going four-on-the-floor, this is one rock drummer (much like a Stephen Perkins or Will Calhoun) who knows how to swing his eighth-notes.”

5. Dave Grohl

“Nirvana had a bunch of drummers before Dave Grohl joined the band, but it was the combination of Grohl, singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic that hit enormous pay dirt with 1991’s Nevermind and launched one of the biggest movements in rock and roll since the British Invasion. After Cobain’s suicide, Grohl could have packed up his drums and spent the rest of his days polishing the grunge off his platinum records, but instead he decided to record his debut record, Foo Fighters, which not only flaunted his incredible drumming talents, but made obvious his prodigious abilities as a power-pop singer, songwriter, and guitarist.”

4. Chad Smith

“Chad Smith is one of the most sought-after session drummers in the world – and probably one of the loudest. In the late 80s, he blew away the newly-formed Red Hot Chilli Peppers lineup, though his hard rock and hell’s angels style appearance looked out of place, so singer Anthony Kiedis told him to ditch the bandana and come back the next day. Smith kept it on, but they admired his persistence. Today he’s also touring with the supergroup Chickenfoot, when he gets a chance.”

3. Mike Portnoy

“In the ’80s it was almost impossible to find a young drummer who hadn’t hammered out Neil Peart’s “Tom Sawyer” fills. In the ’90s, Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy commands similar reverence for his blistering chops, imaginative phrasing and command of odd-time signatures. And as if Dream Theater wasn’t enough, he had to go form a group with fellow DT guitarist John Petrucci, keyboardist Jordan Rudess and bass/stick legend Tony Levin. The resulting two albums from Liquid Tension Experiment helped further cement Portnoy as the preeminent progressive rock drummer of the decade.”

2. Danny Carey

“As a fan of metal and drumming in general, Danny Carey has been one of the most influential and skilled drummers I could think of. He has pushed me to try harder and has caused me to expand my horizons throughout my drumming career. This man is an absolute legend and is quite underrated for the music genre he plays for. The skills to go in between 9/8 to 7/8 etc is absolutely astonishing.”

1. Jimmy Chamberlin

“Like other felines, jazz cats have nine lives—just ask Jimmy Chamberlin. An ex-jazz player when he joined Smashing Pumpkins, Chamberlin showed how effectively those coffeehouse chops can be when they’re applied to rock. His fluid, powerful playing on the Pumpkins’ 1991 debut Gish was eye-opening, demonstrating a thrilling combination of speed, creativity, and control. His repeated problems with heroin addiction got him booted out of the band during the Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness tour, and the Pumpkins’ 1998 album Adore suffered for his absence.”