10 Greatest Drummers In Rock Music History

10. Larry Mullen Jr. - U2

The idea of drumming for a mainstream rock group seems more and more like a thankless job.

I mean, since someone like Meg White could find her way into the public eye by just pounding away on a few snares and cymbals, it should be a walk in the park, right? The beauty of being a drummer though is just how much you're able to do with just the little bits of percussion in front of you.

While most people come to U2 for the warped sounds of the Edge and Bono's upper register, they wouldn't have been able to reach half the heights they could without Larry Mullen Jr. in the background.

Outside of his incredible sense of timing, there are a lot of unique tom fills sprinkled throughout their back catalog, like the iconic opening of Bullet the Blue Sky and the pattern for Pride, which involved Larry completely reworking his kit to give the song its heavy sound.

Larry also doesn't get nearly the credit for his willingness to experiment with other kinds of rhythmic approaches. You very rarely hear him play the standard 4/4 rhythm, as he puts in more modern patterns into the mix and also finding time to flirt with the world of electronica on later albums like Achtung Baby and Zooropa. He may have been in the game for a while, but Larry definitely is aware of the changing trends going on around him.