Drumming is an art form that involves both control and letting go! 🥁 Many of us would agree that the moments of letting go are usually the drum fills, and it is these inspiring moments that can take a song to the next level. So without further ado:
Here’s our list of the 10 best drum fills of all time. *Drum roll*
Black Hole Sun – Soundgarden
With the song “Black Hole Sun” from their 1994 album “Superunknown”, the band fronted by the far too soon departed Chris Cornell created a masterpiece where everything comes together: melody, lyrics, dynamics, and, to no small extent, Matt Cameron’s drumming.
Alongside the powerful sound of the drums, a particular appeal lies in the tension that Cameron builds through skillfully placed fills. The most iconic is the massive build-up to the final chorus. Following a brief moment of silence and introduced by a fat snare flam, the fill unfolds with tremendous impact and forms the dynamic climax of this alternative rock classic.
Pride (In The Name Of Love) – U2
After a somewhat dreamy and laid-back intro, this drum fill, played by none other than Larry Mullen Jr., really gets the song up to full speed and delivers that unmistakable U2 energy. It’s a fairly simple sixteenth-note pattern on the snare, but the accents make it sound very lively, and the fill creates a perfect transition into the song’s main groove.
Larry Mullen Jr. demonstrates once again that it doesn’t take flashy fills to drive a song forward and that you can achieve great impact even with simple means.
Rain – The Beatles
What would a list of the best drum fills of all time be without Ringo Starr? The Beatles’ drummer famously played a right-handed drum kit despite being left-handed. This setup led him to develop a unique playing style – especially for his fills, which often begin with the left hand and are usually structured completely differently from those played by right-handed drummers.
A fine example is the track “Rain” from the 1966 album “Revolver”. Ringo Starr not only begins the song with a drum fill, but also plays fills throughout. The groovy and somewhat elastic rhythm of this song stands out thanks to a drum beat that is… well, full of fills.
Sunshine of Your Love – Cream
Cream were arguably one of the shortest-lived supergroups of all time, yet they left a significant mark on the history of rock music. Three fantastic musicians – Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker – came together and proved that three legends can push each other to peak performances.
At the centre was the spirited Ginger Baker, who was one of the first rock drummers to play with two bass drums. Ginger Baker really knew how to amp up the intensity of a song with his tight drum fills. Just listen to how he does it in “Sunshine of Your Love”. Absolutely masterful.
Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
Following Kurt Cobain’s instantly recognizable guitar intro, Dave Grohl’s iconic drum fill in Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” takes this grunge hit to a whole new level. Those first ten seconds of the song defined an entire era of ‘90s grunge music.
And yet the intro isn’t the only magical moment in the song; the fill that leads into the chorus is another moment drummers immediately hear in their heads when they think of this track. In fact, every one of Grohl’s fills has that signature style that has made him one of the world’s greatest rock drummers.
Africa – Toto
Another example of how a drum fill can set the tone for a chorus can be heard in Toto’s 1982 mega-hit “Africa”. After a laid-back, grooving verse, drummer Jeff Porcaro leads the transition into the song’s epic chorus with powerful triplet flams on the toms.
Porcaro, who died unexpectedly just ten years later, proves once again here that he has an absolutely unerring feel for taking every song he played on to the next level with razor-sharp precision. Alongside his main band Toto, countless other bands and artists such as Steely Dan, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, and Pink Floyd also benefited from this.
In The Air Tonight – Phil Collins
For many, the explosive verse-to-chorus transition in Phil Collins’ 1981 hit ‘In The Air Tonight’ is the most magical drumming moment of all time. That’s why we suggest referring to this as a “Drum Phil” 😉
It takes a full 3 minutes and 40 seconds for the quiet drum machine beat to give way to that liberating fill on the concert toms, the impact of which is further enhanced by the gated reverb effect. With this moment, Collins not only created an unforgettable fill, but – together with producer Hugh Padgham – also a signature sound that was often copied in the years that followed.
Little Wing – Jimi Hendrix
Like the aforementioned supergroup Cream, Jimi Hendrix also led a true power trio from the mid-1960s onwards with his band ‘The Jimi Hendrix Experience’, which also included bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell. The track “Little Wing” from the 1967 album “Axis: Bold As Love” features a masterfully played drum fill by Mitch Mitchell that leads into the first verse after a guitar intro of around half a minute.
With this light-footed triplet figure, Mitchell clearly reveals that his playing style was heavily influenced by jazz drummers such as Elvin Jones and Max Roach.
Good Times Bad Times – Led Zeppelin
Naturally, any top 10 list in drumming must include the great John Bonham. The Led Zeppelin drummer, who passed away in 1980, played so many iconic fills that it is difficult to single out just one. We’ve opted here for the opening track on the very first LZ album from 1969.
Around ten seconds into “Good Times Bad Times”, Bonham plays an incredibly tasteful fill that clearly demonstrates he was capable of sounding anything but heavy. Much like his colleague Mitch Mitchell, Bonham also absorbed jazz influences, which is clearly evident in this transition into the first verse.
Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who
And another drumming icon of the 1960s and 1970s simply cannot be left off this list: Keith Moon! In the songs he played on, the brilliant drummer from “The Who” delivered what is arguably the highest density of fills imaginable. In fact, he utilized the full drum kit almost continuously, and the fills just poured out of him.
A perfect example of this is the eight-and-a-half-minute track “Won’t Get Fooled Again” from the 1971 album “Who’s Next”. A minute before the end, Moon fires off several mind-blowing fills in quick succession, impressively demonstrating his energy and creativity.
Drum fills: Feedback!
We hope you enjoyed our list of epic drum fills. It is by no means an exhaustive list, and there are countless other drum fills in music history that deserve to be mentioned. So please share your favourite drum fills in the comments!
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