Drummer 2024 – die Top 10
Top 10 Drummers of 2024

Top 10 Drummers of 2024

With their impeccable technique and effortless multitasking, the best drummers in the world once again showed everyone else how it’s done this year. With so many incredible virtuosos, a list can only be incomplete. But we’ll try anyway. Here are the top 10 drummers who were in the spotlight in 2024.

1. Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater)

As a founding member of Dream Theater, Mike Portnoy became one of the most popular drummers of the 80s and 90s. There was quite a bit of controversy surrounding his departure in 2010. But that’s all water under the bridge. The good news (and the reason why Mike is one of the top 10 drummers of 2024): he returned in 2023 and is once again driving Dream Theater with his untamable energy.

Tama MP1455ST 14x5,5" Mike Portnoy

Tama MP1455ST 14×5,5″ Mike Portnoy

His solos are breathtaking and his double bass drum skills are incomparable. And while he’s at it, he’s having a blast playing and always has enough time to joke around and fire up the audience. Mike plays TAMA, he calls it “Tama for life”. Together, Mike and TAMA have designed a three-way snare strainer, whose flexible setting options basically combine two snare drums into one. The Mike Portnoy signature snares are based on this.

Tama MP1455BU 14x5,5" Mike Portnoy

Tama MP1455BU 14×5,5″ Mike Portnoy

2. Thomas Pridgen

Many consider Thomas Armon Pridgen to be the best drummer in the world. He fascinates with his incredible technical skills and is also exceptionally fast, especially with his bass drum foot. Originally from a gospel background, Thomas achieved worldwide fame primarily through his work with the experimental progressive rock band “The Mars Volta” from 2006 to 2009. In addition to touring with the rapper Residente, Pridgen is the drummer in the hardcore punk band Trash Talk, the Los Angeles-based crossover band Suicidal Tendencies, and his own project The Memorials. In 2023 he joined Fever 333. Thomas is an endorser of DW Drums.
Click here to go to the DW Drums and Percussion page at Thomann.

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3. Larnell Lewis

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Larnell Lewis started playing drums in church at a young age. The Toronto-based musician, composer, producer, and educator has long since established himself as one of the most versatile and in-demand drummers in the world. Since 2012, Larnell has played with three-time Grammy winners Snarky Puppy.

Yamaha Absolute Hybrid Studio -WLN

Yamaha Absolute Hybrid Studio -WLN

He also leads successful ensembles of his own and toured the world with greats such as Quincy Jones, Laila Biali, Jeremy Ledbetter, Etienne Charles, Gregory Porter, Benny Golson, Lalah Hathaway, Jacob Collier, John Scofield, Pat Metheny, Lisa Fisher, Kurt Elling, Gary Burton, and many others. Thanks to his immense talent, unbridled creativity, and constantly evolving musical style, he is in high demand as a sideman for international artists. In addition to his successes as an artist, performer, and director, Larnell is a professor of music at Humber College, Canada’s most prestigious institution for post-secondary music education. Larnell plays Yamaha Absolute Hybrid Maple Drums.

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4. Anika Nilles

Anika Nilles, a drummer, composer, solo musician, and music lecturer, has spearheaded the German modern drumming scene since 2014. She is admired by experts for her rhythmic intelligence and her tastefully subtle yet explosively dynamic playing. Her masterclasses and clinics are popular with drummers across the world.

Tama STAR Drum Bubinga Set LNTI

Tama STAR Drum Bubinga Set LNTI

Anika has played with countless popular acts, including the legendary guitarist and multiple Grammy winner Jeff Beck, who brought her into his current touring band in 2022. Anika Nilles has received several awards as one of the best modern drummers and racked up more than 23 million views on YouTube with her own music – an innovative mix of urban jazz, modern funk, and progressive elements. She plays TAMA, in particular a STAR Drum Bubinga Set.

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5. Eloy Casagrande

Ex Sepultura drummer Eloy Casagrande made headlines in April 2024 when he became the successor to Jay Weinberg, who was sacked from Slipknot last November. According to Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor, Eloy was the only candidate who was willing to jam with the masked metalheads. Ultimately, however, it was his impeccable playing technique that made this likeable and down-to-earth metal powerhouse the rhythmic backbone of the nine-piece band. Eloy got started at a young age. He began learning the drums at the age of seven, was given a real drum kit at eight, and won a competition at the Batuka International Drummer Fest at just 13 years of age. In 2006 he won the Undiscovered Drummer Contest by Modern Drummer magazine in New Jersey. The rest is Sepultura thrash history. Now he’s embarking on the Slipknot journey. His set consists of Tama Starclassic Bubinga drums in piano white finish, Paiste cymbals, Yamaha pads, Evans heads, and ProMark Classic 5B sticks.

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6. Kristina Rybalchenko

With around 1.2 million followers on TikTok and more than 773,000 on Instagram, Kristina Rybalchenko is one of the new generation of internet stars. She started playing the drums at the age of 14. Under her pseudonym @kriss_drummer, Rybalchenko regularly posts full drum cover videos on her YouTube channel and shares short clips of these on Instagram and TikTok to spread her infectious joy behind the drums as far as possible on the internet.

Meinl Kriss Rybalchenko Signature

Meinl Kriss Rybalchenko Signature

No genre is too exotic for Rybalchenko, and her drum covers are so technically sound and so well produced that it seems like she’s been drumming her whole life. After being nominated by Modern Drummer’s reader poll, she won the “Social Media / Streaming” category in 2023. And the impressive journey continues.

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7. Travis Barker (Blink 182)

When Travis joined Blink 182, it was actually only supposed to be a stand-in job, as the band’s former drummer Scott Raynor had dropped out during a tour. He agreed to step in at short notice and only had 90 minutes to learn the entire set. That was around 26 years ago. Two years later, they had their big breakthrough with “All the Small Things”. He also worked with other artists such as the Aquabeats, Box Car Racer, Transplants, and Machine Gun Kelly. His special quality: by combining elements of punk rock drums, hip-hop beats, drum line rudiments, and even jazz, Travis has developed a recognizable and unique style.

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8. Mario Duplantier

Mario François Duplantier and the band Gojira, formerly known as Godzilla and founded by him and his brother Joe in 1996, had the entire metal world cheering in 2024. The extreme metal band, which is one of the most popular and successful of the past 20 years, opened the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris with an impressive performance, performing a heavy version of “Ca Ira”, the unofficial anthem of the French Revolution. A bombastic milestone for the metal scene! Mario Duplantier is often named one of the world’s best metal drummers by music journalists, magazines, and reader surveys. He is not only one of the hardest drummers in metal, but, above all, a polyrhythm wizard. For example, in “The Art of Dying”, one of the hardest Gojira songs to count, his right hand stays on the ride in 4/4 time, while he simultaneously plays the snare in groups of three and five in 21/16 time and repeatedly switches to 2/4 time.
Click here to go to the TAMA page at Thomann.

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9. El Estepario Siberiano

Currently one of the most in-demand drummers in the world, El Estepario Siberiano rose to fame primarily through social media. As of September 2024, the drumming prodigy has a staggering 4.1 million subscribers on his YouTube channel alone. He also managed to seamlessly transition from the digital domain to the world of hard rock with his band “The Cost” in 2024.

Yamaha DFP9CL Double Foot Pedal

Yamaha DFP9CL Double Foot Pedal

He is often described as the best and fastest drummer on the scene today. His crazy tempos sometimes make it difficult for other musicians to keep up. With “The Cost”, Jorge Garrido – his real name – delivered a hard-hitting debut with a radio-ready hard rock sound in 2024, in which he shines with commendable restraint and his almost hypnotic technique with a pulsating groove.

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10. Nandi Bushell

Curiously, Nandi Bushell became world-famous during the first wave of Covid. In 2020, when she was just ten years old, she challenged none other than Foo Fighters legend Dave Grohl to a drum duel. The videos went viral and secured her millions of views, especially among established artists, which ultimately led to numerous television appearances. At the age of 12, the British teenager was already a real rock star and played with the Foo Fighters at the sold-out Wembley Stadium in front of around 90,000 people, securing her reputation as the “world’s raddest drummer”. By February, the drummer and multi-instrumentalist had generated an incredible 67.4 million views on YouTube. Nandi herself says with unarming self-confidence: “I was better than my dad in, like, two weeks.”

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Drummers of 2024 – Top 10: Your Feedback

As I said, a list of the best drummers can only be incomplete. Who has impressed you the most so far? We look forward to your suggestions in the comments!

Author’s gravatar
Lawrence started playing the electric guitar because of his passion for rock music. Back in the day he played in a metal band, but now plays more for himself.

4 comments

    Paulina Villarreal-Velez from The Warning. Best rock drummer.

    Akane Hirose! She is technical and inventive, but most of all, she serves the song better than anyone I ever heard. On top of that, she does it with an infectious smile!

    pau villarreal velez & akane hirose, my favorite drummers in my favorite 2 rock bands.

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