The Drummers Phil Collins Considered the Greatest

Long before Phil Collins became one of the biggest singers of the Eighties, he considered himself something else entirely: a drummer.

Even after becoming the frontman of Genesis and building an enormously successful solo career, Collins continued to talk about drumming as the foundation of his musical identity. His favourite players reveal just how broad his influences were, stretching from understated pop drumming to jazz virtuosity and some of the most powerful players rock had produced.

The Genius of Playing for the Song

Ringo Starr was an important early influence.

While much of the attention surrounding The Beatles naturally fell on their singers and songwriters, Collins recognised what Starr was doing behind them. His performances weren’t designed to dominate recordings. They supported the songs while introducing unusual fills, rhythms and textures.

Tracks such as Tomorrow Never Knows and A Day in the Life demonstrated how inventive Starr could be without turning the drums into a technical exhibition.

Charlie Watts represented a similar philosophy.

The Rolling Stones drummer possessed a jazz sensibility but rarely allowed technique to overwhelm the music. Collins admired his restraint and his ability to provide exactly what a song required.

For a drummer capable of extremely complex playing himself, Collins understood the value of knowing when not to play.

Despite becoming a hugely successful singer and frontman, Collins continued to regard himself primarily as a drummer.

Keith Moon’s Controlled Chaos

Keith Moon represented something completely different.

The Who’s drummer appeared to attack his kit from every direction, filling spaces where most drummers would have remained silent. His playing could sound chaotic, yet beneath the spectacle was an instinctive understanding of the music.

Collins was fascinated by that freedom.

Moon demonstrated that drums didn’t simply have to sit behind a rock band keeping time. They could become another lead instrument, reacting constantly to the vocals, guitar and bass.

It was an approach almost impossible to imitate convincingly because so much of it depended upon Moon’s personality.

The Power of John Bonham

If Moon represented unpredictability, John Bonham demonstrated the extraordinary impact of combining power with control.

Bonham’s work with Led Zeppelin transformed expectations of what rock drums could sound like. His bass drum could feel enormous, but his playing also contained swing, subtlety and remarkable precision.

Collins admired that combination.

Bonham wasn’t simply hitting harder than everyone else. He understood where to place a beat and how to make seemingly straightforward rhythms feel enormous.

That physical approach to the instrument became one of the ingredients Collins absorbed into his own playing.

The Drummer Collins Called the Greatest

Then there was Buddy Rich.

Rich came from a very different musical world. His astonishing speed, control and technical ability made him one of jazz’s most celebrated drummers, and Collins became captivated by his playing.

The admiration lasted throughout Collins’s career.

When he later explored big-band music himself, the influence became particularly apparent. Collins wasn’t attempting to become Buddy Rich, but he had spent decades studying the combination of precision, speed and apparent effortlessness that made Rich exceptional.

Collins went further than simply calling him an influence.

He described Buddy Rich as the greatest drummer of all time.

Collins regarded jazz virtuoso Buddy Rich as the greatest drummer of all time.

The Musicians Beside Him

Some of the drummers Collins admired eventually became part of his own musical world.

When Collins moved from the Genesis drum stool to become the band’s lead singer, Chester Thompson became crucial to their concerts. His background included work with Frank Zappa, and his technical ability allowed Genesis to retain the complexity of their music while Collins spent more time at the front of the stage.

Steve Gadd provided another model entirely.

A master session musician, Gadd could move between jazz, rock and pop while always maintaining a distinctive groove. His celebrated performance on Steely Dan’s Aja demonstrated precisely the combination Collins admired: immense technical ability that still served the recording.

A Drummer First

Collins eventually became so famous as a singer that it became easy to overlook what had come before.

Before In the Air Tonight, the enormous solo tours and the worldwide pop success, he had already established himself as one of his generation’s most distinctive drummers.

His heroes help explain how that style developed.

From Ringo Starr and Charlie Watts came restraint. Keith Moon offered freedom. John Bonham demonstrated power. Steve Gadd and Chester Thompson showed what technique could accomplish, while Buddy Rich represented a standard Collins believed nobody had surpassed.

Different players, different styles — but each helped shape the drummer Phil Collins became.