The three greatest drummers of all time, according to Tommy Lee
Besides his historical tabloid-plastering relationship with Baywatch glamour model Pamela Anderson, Tommy Lee is best known for laying down some serious beats as the longtime drummer of Los Angeles heavy metal band Mötley Crüe.
Although Lee’s tastes have sprawled the sub-genres, notably spearheading rap metal with Methods of Mayhem, his roots have always been firmly planted in classic hard rock. It’s hard to think of a drummer who has more firmly placed themselves within the centre of a movement than Lee and his band.
The group are the foreword in hedonistic headbanging, and their wild and weird ways made them an archetype of rock and roll excess. It is a trope that has followed Lee around for his entire life. No matter what area of society he finds himself in, one could bet there is a Mötley Crüe fan ready to share a beer or something stronger with him. It’s this excess that often maligns his legacy and befuddles the mind to forgetting that, beneath it all, Lee was actually a powerhouse percussionist. And it all started very early.
As a teenager in the 1970s, Lee grew up on a healthy diet of contemporary rock. Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Kiss, AC/DC and Sweet are among Lee’s most prominent influences from this era, and their influence can be heard immediately when perusing the Mötley Crüe catalogue. When it comes to drumming, Lee has several idols, but Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham has always sat in poll position.
“The hands-down guy is John Bonham, and you can probably hear it in my playing,” Lee revealed when discussing his favourite drummers with David Frangioni of All Access Hits. “That guy, most people will talk about how heavy his foot was and how laid back his snare drum was, but not a lot of people talk about his cymbal placement. He doesn’t really play a ton of cymbals, but when he does, he always seems to pick that right moment.”
“And you can hear it in the studio — they’ve got the cymbals mic’d and compressed really well, so that when he does hit it, it [sounds great],” Lee continued. “Also, if you were to do that the whole time, it would be messy sounding. But he really had this amazing ability to pick and choose when those moments were when he wanted that power and that big [makes cymbal sound].”
“That’s something that a lot of people don’t talk about. Other than his amazing timing and just his groove, man — the way he laid back on that big heavy foot and the snare drum way, way on the backside. I mean, that’s money. The first time I heard that, I’ll never forget it. I was sitting there. So I must have played Physical Graffiti nine million times, just flipping out, like, ‘Jesus, listen to this dude.'”
Lee, of course, isn’t alone in his admiration for Bonham’s idiosyncrasies. Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters once deemed the Led Zeppelin beat-keeper as the greatest of all time. “John Bonham played the drums like someone who didn’t know what was going to happen next—like he was teetering on the edge of a cliff,” Grohl told Rolling Stone. “No one has come close to that since, and I don’t think anybody ever will. I think he will forever be the greatest drummer of all time.”
After blowing most of his wad on Bonham, Lee saved a little light to cast on two other profoundly influential drummers. “And then, later on, other influences… Tommy Aldridge was another one,” he pondered. “Just the showmanship part of his playing, the stick spinning and the cymbal grabs and all that kind of stuff. Tommy was another one. And for pure just, like a metronome.”
“Phil Rudd,” he blurted out, remembering the AC/DC legend. “Dude, that guy is like a human drum machine. I mean, you could probably clock that guy and I’ll bet you it doesn’t move he’s that solid. So there’s different guys for different things, but I’ve been inspired by many drummers. Also more that I could mention, but we’d be for freakin’ hours [laughs].”
The truth is, while he might well be as known for his partying ways, model wives and sex tapes as he is for his drumming, Lee is still a fan of the instrument above all else. He is still just that kid who fell in love with the drums and the drummers who played them. And that makes at least one small part of Tommy Lee feel a little innocent.
Watch Tommy Lee channel his inner John Bonham on an upside-down drum kit below.
Tommy Lee’s three favourite drummers:
- John Bonham
- Phil Rudd
- Tommy Aldridge
