The 20 best drum solos of all time, ranked

Neil Peart behind the kit in 2008.Jesse Grant/Getty Images

• Insider ranked the 20 best drum solos of all time.
• Billy Cobham's solo during the song "Tenth Pinn" in 1974 showcased his insane control and speed, as well as his pioneering open-handed approach.
• In the composition "O Baterista," Neil Peart played different time signatures and speeds using all of his limbs, resulting in some of the most complex drumming the world has ever seen.
• But the No. 1 spot goes to Buddy Rich, who took other drummers to school with his showmanship in his Concert for the Americas solo.

The drum solo is that one showstopping moment during a concert that allows the drummer to shake the restrictive chains of timekeeper and showcase their flamboyant and bombastic skills.

It's come a long way since the jazz days when Buddy Rich was king of the hill — drummers' kits are a lot bigger and their skills have advanced to levels that would have seemed inhuman 60 years ago — and the drum solo's appeal has only grown.

Unlike Insider's ranking of the best guitar solos of all time, which were exclusively studio recordings, we decided to only include live drum solos in this list. Whereas guitar solos are often mainstays of a song, studio recordings usually only feature drum fills, which offer only a few seconds of percussive showmanship. The energy and improvisation of the drum solo are often best experienced live.

Here are the 20 best drum solos of all time, ranked.