Greatest Bass Players of All Time

Felix wasn't only a great bass player, he could sing, compose music for Mountain, and produce Disraeli Gears (Cream). What a talent!!

Peter Cetera, Danny Seraphine, and Terry Kath were Creamgs. Educated and street players. Add songs and Killer Horns. Magic Land. The bass parts are killer. It took Bass Player Mag. 30 yrs to put him on the cover. WOW Oh, Yeay............ He played Killer bass and sang at the same time. He was great..............

Peter Cetera's bass playing on the early Chicago albums was among the finest of the era. His playing combined the "groove" of Jamerson with the melodic style of McCartney. Sadly underrated.

His great vocals overshadowed his awesome bass playing! Top rate player.

Inventor of the 12-string bass, the talented co-founder of Cheap Trick should be much higher.

amazing!!! and he was only 17 when he did the first jamiroquai album!!!

well my favorite player to date, he puts the F in jamiroquai's Funk. He's bass lines are so simple, melodic yet groovy as hell. should be on top 10 on my opinion

best funk bass player !

This man put the funk in Jamiroquai, any aspiring funk-masters out there should sit down with the album 'Emergency On Planet Earth' and get funky

Listen to "Soul Experience"

Lee should be much higher on this list!

Absolutely agree!

Introduction on Eight Miles High is A++++

Listen to "Do you want to be a rock and roll star"

I agree with that last comment. I think the Pixies, collectively, are outstanding. Kim Deal is a solid bass player and very creative woman, but not exactly "the greatest bass player of all time." Still, glad to see her in the top 100 at least.

As good a band as pixies are, individually their really not the best musicians... I love the pixies so dont hold that comment against me, there are just much better bassists around

What's with all the haters? Okay, I look at this and think to myself "hmm, Kim Deal ranked higher than Charles Mingus? Nah." But, if you look at groups influenced by the Pixies, they include Nirvana and Radiohead. So, I guess from that perspective, an above average ranking makes sense -- still, umm, she's no Jaco, right.

I just threw up in my mouth.....

Really? Any serious bassist who follows not just a single genre but the evolution of the instrument would know that Kim Deal is considered among certain circles as the best. Go listen to the whole Surfer Rosa album and then come back and say some prog rock dude in tights deserves to be higher than Kim. The only surprise here is that she's not number one.

Had no idea who this was until I listened to some of their songs on Youtube -- some 80's era alternative band. Haha, when I first checked this site, it looked like some fanboy in a King Crimson t-shirt sat down at his computer and voted up any bassist who had anything remotely to do with that project. At least this is some variety.

Ha Ha! If she was a great bass player, then so was my mother.

I love Green Day, I love Mike, he is my idol but sadly, I agree with his relative positioning. I thought he could have made the top 100. But you know, what are you gonna do.

Yes. A great punk rock bassist. With simple but good lines. Hardly deserving of one top 100 spot. He is good in his own right, just as Green Day is. But there are better musicians and bands out there who play so many more original and devoted bass-lines around guitar that isn't a recycled punk rhythm used in two hundred songs that are only saved musically by the vocal melodies. Which, for me, is the saving grace of Green Day

Screw whoever put mike dirt at 117. He is the idol to all young punk rock bassists like me. He KICKS BUTT! At least top 15 if u ask me.

you forgot my generation

have these idiots listened to welcome to paradise? what about longview? how about walking contradiction? now im 14 so most people assume im a teenybopper when i talk about green day and its terrible that he didnt make top 20 let alone TOP 100!

One of the best bassists ever..and just like in Green Day..he is waaay underrated here.

Mike Dirnt is one of the greatest bassists in punk history. he deserves to be in top 10

Mike Dirnt should be so much higher up in the list

Will earn another award by induction into the R&B Hall of Fame this year as a member of the Motown's Funk Brothers. Sad that so many do not know the genius of this legendary bassist. Crazy, poor ranking.

FaceBook post by Leland Sklar says it all about Babbitt: What can I say? Bob Babbitt was one of the best bass players EVER! I have been sitting and studying his part on the Spinners "Rubber Band Man" Can I say PERFECTION!!!!!!

Fender web site headline for Babbitt's bio: " Bob Babbitt is a bass guitar legend. Period." In other words he deserves to to be ranked much higher.

Babbitt is the only session musician to play with BOTH The Funk Brothers and MFSB, two of the most soulful and successful backing groups in R&B history!!

C'mon! #94 does no justice to this legend. Babbitt played on over 200 top 40 his, earned 25 gold records and several platinum.

Any musician who earns a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award deserves a much higher rating!!!

Makes no sense at all that he is rated this low. HE IS THE FIRST BACK UP MUSICIAN TO EARN A STAR ON THE NASHVILLE WALK OF FAME OUT OF 59 OTHERs AWARDED THE HONOR!!

His solo on Scorpio is legend and the many top hits he backed have sold over 100,000,000 copies. It's a shame he is the best unknown player on this list. He should justifiably be in the top 25 on any list.

SIGNED SEALED DELIVERED I MEAN LISTEN TO THE DAMN SONG THE MAN RIPPED IT !

The most underrated of the pack. The man has dozens of gold records at hoem and he played with many Grammy winning artists. He always was in the shadow of Jamerson. Should be higher on the list.

consistently great...

Ron Carter is one of the true greats, should be top 10.

The father of the modern acoustic bass line.

Def. deserves a higher rating. The man is a master.

Definately unquestionably one of the all time greats of Bass!!! Maybe the Greatest...

Can't believe he wasn't on the list...

Although her bass playing was never featured during the Bangles concerts her bass playing along with Debbi Peterson on drums created the mood of every song they played. Michael's bass playing made you seek her out while she was on stage. She is a hell of alot better looking than those above her, rate her higher!

He has wrote some great lines! Just listen to bigmouth strikes again! Love it!

Not technically someone you'd consider a "great" among bass players, but he fit with the Smiths' sound.

Tetsuo Sakurai (櫻井(桜井) 哲夫, born 1957-11-13) is a Japanese bassist.To date, he has released a total of 37 albums as a member of Casiopea and Jimsaku and solo artist, and has also made 3 bass instructional videos.

Shouldn't even be on the list. Better known as a guitarist.

Stills is a very underrated bass player.

One of the greatest bass minds for me. Highly musical lines. Unexpected. Underrated. Genius.

I get a little disappointed when I look at lists like this and see Mike Mills ranked so low... He has some awesome bass lines, and he's very talented. I wish more people were familiar with him.

Listening to his bass on 'Lifes Rich Pageant' made me want to learn and play the instrument. I still try to emulate his precise and technical style.. i fail every time! :)

Anyone is a better bass player than her, but she is a hell of a songwriter with the sexiest voice ever!

Carol Kaye is a very ordinary bass player????? Oh, my God, shame on you...

Carol Kaye is a very ordinary bass player.

That was Carol Kaye on "Sloop John B."

Whadaya mean not in the top 50?!

Exceptional bassist with complex and melodic basslines. He pushed the reggae grooves to a new level and had a prolific career in USA after working with Peter Tosh.

robbie should be higher, and why isn't aston barrett on this list?

Tons of my favorite Weather Report is Alphonzo. Way before Jaco. Also, Alphonzo played with Woody Herman and the Herd. He drove all 19 guys. He's great. Vetchking@aol.com Here; Pres of the New "acoustic" USa co. Later

the heart an soul of new orleans funk rhythm and The Meters

The Captain only played bass on their debut, Damned Damned Damned and the follow up Music For Pleasure. After the reformation he switched to guitar, and played guitar more often than bass.

D'arcy is one of the best LOOKING bassists.

What? didn't Corgan play all the bass parts?

DOES NOT EVEN COMPARE TO MIKE INEZ

My personal favorite - view the movie Stop Making Sense and then award her best looking bass player!

Great bass player but lacks the big dangly bits!

Jeff Berlin is incredible.

He's at 113? Ridiculous !! I thought he was much more famous than this. Apparently I was wrong. You people should definitely check out his works. One the most brilliant soloist on the electric bass.

On sheer talent, he's easily a top 10er - he just doesn't have the pub! If you've never heard him, check out his work on Bill Bruford's solo efforts (with Holdsworth on guitar) in the late '70's/early '80's. Awesome bassist!

fastest left hand ever

Bona is one of the most creative bassplayers of today and belongs in the top 10! Look him up on youtube if you haven't.

135....! What do people have n their ears, he's top 10 material at least...

the best in the world ......shouba

Should be much higher, main composer and is what makes korn sound the way theu do

Love the name.

Listen to the later recordings...

Carol Kaye played it, not Rob. Great music played by others. Off the list!

Amazing bass player on LA Woman & Elvis LP's from the seventies

Truely amazing bassplayer.

Steve Harris...Cliff Burton and Duff Mckagan should be in the top 10

He would be much higher if this list were just Nikki Sixx, Adam Clayton, Sid Vicious, Michael Anthony, and whoever that guy was from Poison.

he should be much hight than this

I have to add that, while I'm no rock star, I still learned a passable interpretation of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" on bass when I was 15, so seeing Duff, a professional and quite a bit older than I phoning that song in gave me a very bad opinion of him early on. I also thought the "Sweet Child o mine" intro, while very melodic, not that techincally interesting.

Duff cultivated that "Sid Vicious if he'd only learned a few blues progressions" image. I think the image hurt him more than his actual talent, although, years ago, I lost respect for him when GNR covered "For Whom the Bell Tolls" in a concert (not album recording cover and not sure which, if any bootlegs might have this) and Slash played the opening bass line on guitar, with Duff just going F# F# E (as the guitar part does in the Metallica orginal).

Duff is a good talent all around and should be more recognized for it

duff should be right after cliff lee burton!he is amazing bass player,guitarist and one of the original members of guns n' roses!!!

he is a great guitarist & a bass player. He makes amazing bass patterns and that guy knows how to use bass processer....

he also plays piano & synthesizer... and has worked on a couple of solo projects like Believe in Me (1993) Beautiful Disease (1999)

Duff is a great bassist, song writer, a drummer& backup vocalist, a former Guns'N Roses & current velvet revolver & Jane's Addiction member. Apettite for distruction is his masterpiece, though his ability was shadowed by thoes of Slash & W.Axl Rose. Rocket Queen,Sweet child o mine, You could be mine..... are amongst his greatest works...

amazing bassist can also take lead vocals

bass player out of guns n roses and now with velvet revolver

Definitely not Top 100, but I really enjoy playing some of his stuff. He just has fun with it, which is cool, but the talent hasn't ever really come through on his recordings. Maybe he is just limited by his genre, but Mark Hoppus still deserves a spot on here. Just not a high one.

Funny guy and awesome band to grow up with but as far as bass playing goes...carousel is about the only good line he came up with. Hate to bash the guy cause I really did love the band growing up but I have to say...he's just a root note player.

i agree

Very fluid and melodic style - very distinctive with a great feel.

legend and such an understated chap also....really melodic and as above, just a pleasure to listen too

Awesome melodic player

he's in my top 3

This guy is one of my top 5.

Way too low. Top 30 easily.

#153...! She's young and "new" on the scene, but please... She deserves much more, and if you don't beleive me check out "Behind the veil", live performance with Jeff Beck at Ronnie Scott's. Also saw her live with Herbie Hancock in the "Imagine Project" in Montreux... PUSH HER UP IN RANK PLEASE...!

one of my favorites!!

Hey, Gordon Sumner(AKA, Sting!) is alreadyon this list... enough said

what the hell is sting doing down at 152, top 75 for sure. Police were top of the world in the early 80's and its because of this guy.

His bass playing was overshadowed by his singing, but the music was simply awesome. Any bass player that could pull off the tunes that they did is fantastic, but adding the rpesence that he did with his vocals just sealed the deal. Top 50 bassist for sure.

I knew he wasnt the best but......293rd?

Although you've never heard him "slap" his bass, yet this guy created all the songs for the Police when he was with them. In his solo career he has written some of the most beautiful music. Great catchy bass lines. Never mind a great voice for a bassist. In my honest opinion he should be a bit higher on this list.

good bassist.... but deserves a slap! ;-)

deserves to be much higher, one of the most innovative bassists in metal, and maybe even all of music. much better than a few in the top 20. i recommend you check out him or some mudvayne songs on youtube or something.

he is just a dream to watch...

This guys bass lines are ridiculous. 130? At least top 50

Watching this guy work on the bass is nothing short of amazing. He defined the bands sound in a way that few bassists ever do. From the looks of this list, this is more of a popularity contest than it is a list of the most talented bassists. While many of the top spots are there deservedly so I would have to question why martini is so low on the list. But then again that is obvious when looking at Mudvayne, nothing has come easy for that band and for the enormous amount of talent that they have they still remain far more obscure than they should.

Mr. Big

Yeah steely dan rocks

agree - this guy was great - underrated !

Most off the great bassriff's on the SD albums are played by Chuck Rainey not by Walter Becker

I absolutely love Steely Dan, one of THE greatest bands to ever live! yeah peple often think of the lead singer Donald Fagean, but don't give my man Walter Becker his props...Your absolutely right

Actually, I think Araya's style was developed by Slayer's music, primarily a singer, he's impressive in that he mostly doesn't use a pick and manages to both singe and play bass at 100000 bpm (of course exaggerating).

I really like Tom Araya. He is a good bassist, but Slayer songs doesn't show his talent.

This guy set the bar pretty high for everyone. It's too bad he died at such a young age. I can only imagine what he could have done with a Jazz Bass too.

I kinda hate 311 but he's an excellent bassist

180?! Really?! He tearsss it up live! move p-nut up this list!

Tom Jenkinson is elite level as a producer and overall musician, yet the thing he is best at is bass. He deserves to be way higher. Come on, the chick from the pixies outranks Tom Jenkinson and Jeff Berlin......and I don't even think I've seen Nathan Aweau on this list.

The whole idea of a DJ playing a bass along with his samples/electronica is certainly original. He has well developed speed and technique in his style.

Tom is up there with Jaco and Victor Wooten. One of the greatest of all time, and at least top three current bass players.

Bass playing genius stretches base playing and the very fabric of music to a whole new level. His music challenges your preconceptions and questions what music actually is and his answers are often terrifying and beautiful at the same time - Do not vote for him though he'd hate it!

R.I.P.... listen to the small faces and the faces.... very influential bassist/singer/songwriter!!! wrote many songs that unfortunatley made rod stewart rich and famous... talented and funny geeza.. sadly died from M.S

He wasn't Just good He was a fantastic bass player and a amazing guy once i saw him as number three best bass players in the world

R.I.P Paul

You spelled his name wrong its Gray not Grey

R.I.P Paul Gray.

Needs to at least be top 30 all time. Total joke having him way down here.

Watt rawks !!

This is a rediculously influential bass player that deserves much more credit than this.

Listen to the record Double Nickels on the Dime. Viet Nam or Two Beads at the End.

Yes! Definately! She is young and new and fresh and incredible! She definately deserves to be higher up on this list! Not only is she an amazing bassist but she is also an icredible vocalist!

they save lives :) best band ever :D

MCR rocks :D

no... just no to the last comment......

Truly a "BRILLIANT" musician. One thing that I have noticed about this man's style, is that he always tailors his playing for the song, and not vice versa. It is always about the song, then in the live setting, he shows his improv skills and Master chops ( he can play anything). His composition skills are of the highest caliber .

Yes, John Wetton, the Paul McCartney of Progressive Rock!

Haha, just because some dumb movie made fun of an Asia poster doesn't give anyone the right to put down John Wetton himself.

Reminds me of that line from the movie "The 40 year old virgin" which goes "I mean, seriously, Asia? You framed an Asia poster? How hard did the people at the frame store laugh when you brought this in?"

John Wetton is Amazing! The finest composer/ performer that I have ever witnessed

You spelled King Crimson and incorrectly, and didn't mention any of his other bands (the most obvious being Asia...). I'm still voting it up since John Wetton was a fantastic bassist, the album Red is essential.

wow. I know not many people are familiar with her music but she should be a bit closer to the top. She is one bad bass playin female. Pound for pound she holds her own with any of the BIG BOYS. Flat out.

Again with the damn repetitions. this isnt a list its a scratched efen record

JPJ was added long ago and is ranked in the top 20.

This is the guy that said,"Play bass." when i watched the Nightmare music video, the Afterlife video, and listened to Avenged Sevenfold. GET HIM IN THE TOP TEN!

whaaaat, johnny should be waay higher, he can play stuff better than most the people above him-.-

Wow, he's way down here that is very sad, he should be like in the top 50's.

...should be higher...

A rock bassist from a jazz perspective. Stefan plays with passion and skill. I want to pick up the bass guitar everytime i see him play, and to me that is influential.

Should be ranked much higher.

He's awesome

yeah he should be in the top ten

He should be in the top 10, go to a concert and you'll change idea

What What wow Shavo should be in the top 10 not 155 wow.

Again. How many times are you going to repeat the same guy over and over?

I'm sorry, but I dont agree, I dont think he really deserves that much of a mention, there isnt that much special about him compared to any of these other bass players.

Absolutely amazing!

Green Day's seemingly simplistic pop-punk songs aren't so simply when you look at mike dirnt's a-typical melodic basslines. The effortlessly carefree style of Dirnt in songs such as "Longview", "Welcome to Paradise", "Stuck with me", "Redundant" and "No one Knows", to name a few, showcase the real skill in Dirnt's playing. At least top 20!

one word. Longview

I'm not a Phish fan but Mike is a good player.

should be top 10 , forget phish and lisen to his solo stuff, it is amazing

gotta be kidding me def not one of the best. But to see him all the way down here is pathetic. go to a show and listen to him do his thing Mike is the man

Cmon now. Pick any Weekapaug intro and try not to Groove along

Mike is the king of Modulus!! Pick master.

gordo is the man. One of the best doing it to this day!!

HAHAHAHA Chuck Rainey this far down? Thats a joke!

great bassist...should be higher on list

I'm not a musician, but I know a good one when I hear one. Jon Camp's playing is so responsive - he precisely and intuitively knows how and what to deliver.

Check out on You Tube - amazing.

The reason why Renaissance was great. Love his sound, style and presence. Deserving of top ranking.

Michael is a true original on the bass. Known for alternating string tuning's on the fly using 3 instruments it once. His live solo shows are incredible. Check out THONK or other examples of his amazing work.

vampire rocks!

WHOO!, he is the AWESOMEST

lol

A Japanese master of bass playing... way better skilled than many famous bassists.

Stay Away... Blurry eyes.. the best..

A very underrated musician from a remarkably underrated band.

Didn't Bon Jovi basically use a studio musician to play bass on many of their albums and fire this guy?

Best techique, very influential, never give up his progressive musical ideas. Top 10 !!!

Percy is one of the best fretless bass players

top 10 definately!!!

184th, really? Unorthodox Behaviour may be the best album ever. Check it out . . .

It's common knowledge that Vicious couldn't play even at the most basic level and was too strung out to even learn. Instead of a musician, he was a marketing stunt for the band. Although, if you think about it, at a time when prog rock bands tried to showcase complexity, it was pretty punk rock of the Pistols to be so anti-mainstream that their bassist couldn't even play.

There was a whole article in a bass magazine I read about how Sid Vicious was just the face and never really knew how to play bass. Very interesting...

GREAT SHOW, Bad bassist haha

He never really played bass. Serch a little, you will find that the guitarrist recorded to the albums and there was some playback.

Sid Vicious in the top 10? Time to call it a day. Seriously, there was no worse professional bassist, in my opinion, but maybe he gets a lot of style points with this audience.

HAHAHAHA its a PUNK ICON but is a very bad, VERY BAD!!! BASS PLAYER from peru

Are you kidding, the guy is an icon yes, but he was a very crappy bass-player

At LEAST a top 50 bass player! And I'm not suggesting that lightly. I've recently gone back and learned all his lines on a 50's style P-bass neck - which is tricky, but that's how he did it on the recordings. He makes the Dury sound as he colours in the mix. Agree with last poster, simply awesome in the real sense of the word

In my opinion simply the best. I've never seen anyone attack a bass or play it with more aggression and passion than Norm.

Norman is a stunningly goos player and wrote some of the best bass lines you will ever hear. Him being this far down the list is a joke - but then the whole list is a bit of a joke :-)

He's technically outstanding! Rhythm Stick shows this very well. But he also played the kind of bass lines that match the song, like Reasons to be Cheerful. He also shows his colours brilliantly as hte bassist for the Wilko Johnson band. Few can match him!

Norman Watt Roy 187 on the list !!! C'mon....Rhythm stick for one but check him out with wilco johnson in Wilkos band ,great player to watch live ... check him out if you can

Far as I'm concerned he's #1. Together with Wilco Johnson the Blockheads were the best band of the 70's

Listen to "Bonin in the Boneyard" and you'll understand why he should be in the top 5.

easily in my top 5

Colin should be at NUMBER ONE in my opinion. Of course, I'm a huge fan of melodic, "for-the-song" players who use their considerable talents to make the song sound better without showing off and slipping into musical gymnastics. The most tasteful bassist ever to grace the instrument. Listen to the incredible lines on "The Mayor Of Simpleton" or, well, all the songs on Apple Venus, Nonsuch, Mummer...and EVERYTHING else! You are sorely missed, Colin. Hey, maybe one day my music will finally kick in and I'll lure you out of retirement...hmm.