Top Eleven Drummers of the 21st Century

Travis Barker - Blink 182 & +44

Defining the best drummers is typically hard to do since there are thousands of bands in the music industry.  Out of the 20th century there are all kinds of music icons to live up too.  For instance, Metallica's Lars Ulrich and Slayer's Dave Lombardo both have been rocking the stage since 1981.

Everybody chooses their favorite drummers and critics will usually include most drummers from the list below in no particular order.

Neil Peart (Rush)
John Bonham* (Led Zeppelin)
Keith Moon* (The Who)
Dave Lombardo (Slayer)
Danny Carey (Tool)
Ringo Starr (The Beatles)
Stewart Copeland (The Police)
Tommy Aldridge (Ozzy Osbourne)
Bill Ward (Black Sabbath)
Steve Smith (Journey)
Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix)
Mike Shrieve (Santana)
Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden)
Carter Beauford (Dave Matthews) )
Roger Taylor (Queen)
Matt Cameron (Soundgarden)
Phil Collins (Genesis)
Vinnie Paul (Pantera)
Topper Headon (The Clash)
Lars Ulrich (Metallica)
Jimmy Chamberlain (Smashing Pumpkins)
Max Weinberg (Springsteen)
Alex Van Halen (Van Halen)
Steven Adler (Guns N' Roses)

All of these drummers above are musical icons and nearly everybody wishes they had half their talents.  I want to focus on drummers of the 21st century; therefore, I am going to list my top Eleven drummers.  The drummers careers didn't have to start in the 21st century, but are greater in the century.

1. Travis Barker (Blink 182, +44) Although Blink 182 started in the early 90's they accumulated their greatest success in the late 90's early 2000's around when Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, which peaked at #1.  When splitting in 2005 and all members joining new bands, fans have been waiting to see a reunion of one of the greatest bands of my generation.
2. Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan (Avenged Sevenfold) After The Rev's Death - At the second annual Revolver Golden God Awards, The Rev won the award for Best Drummer beating out Chris Adler of Lamb of God, Brann Dailor of Mastodon, Dave Grohl of Them Crooked Vultures and Dave Lombardo of Slayer. The award was presented by Joey Jordison of Slipknot and Vinnie Paul of Pantera.  His family members and Avenged Sevenfold received the honour on his behalf 
3. Brandon Saller (Atreyu) Not only is he the drummer.  Brandon does lead vocals, percussion, brass instruments, piano, and additional guitar.  Atreyu has 5 studio albums and although they are going strong with their newest album Congregation of the Damned, I believe that The Curse is their best compiled studio album.  
4. Jordan Mancino (As I lay Dying)  The metal core christian band is from San Diego, CA and has released 5 studio albums.  Jordan is popular for his speed and very accurate double bass drumming.  Along with vocalist Tim Lambesis, they are the only founding members left in the band since formed in 2000. 
5. Shannon Leto (30 Seconds to Mars) Being the older brother of Jared Leto, Shannon has a well career for with his extremely fast style of playing trying to resemble some of his idols, such as - John Bonham, Roger Taylor, Stewart Copeland, Keith Moon, Nick Mason, and Lars Ulrich.
6. Aaron Gillespie (Underoath, The Almost) He achieved HM magazines Readers Award for favorite drummer of 2008.  Aaron was the longest member of Underoath and performed on every release until he announced his departure on April, 5, 2010.  He now continues with his other band The Almost..
7. Joey Jordison (Slipknot)  Although, Slipknot started in 1995, they didn't release their first studio album until the end of the 20th century: therefore, they have been more successful past the millennium.
8. Michael Thomas (Bullet For My Valentine) The heavy metal Welsh band from Bridgend is the most successful act of all-time in the Kerrang! Awards and their latest album Fever peaked at 3 in the U.S. and 5 in the U.K. 
9. Nick Gelyon (The Autumn Offering) Although, Nick left the band in 2008, Brian Sculley hasn't caught my ear as well as Gelyon did before leaving for personal reasons.  Gelyon is still young and I long to see a return in the next decade
10. Daniel Williams - (The Devil Wears Prada) From Dayton Ohio, the christian based band has released 3 studio albums since 2005 and emerged on a rise with influences such as Underoath and Still Remains.
11. Josh Willis (Story of The Year) Since 2002, when Josh joined the band, the post-hardcore band have released 4 studio albums and touring with bands such as Linkin Park, P.O.D., Emery, Flogging Molly, and Atreyu