The Top 10 Rock Bass Players of All Time

Playing bass in a rock band is a serious business.

The rock scene became an unstoppable force of nature as soon as guitars went electric and over the years it has produced some of the world's most iconic bass players. But who are the best of the best?

One word of caution – picking the best rock bass players of all time is pretty much an impossible task. There's some serious competition, but I've tried my best to select the very best rock bass players ever.

There’s no doubt about it – Zak de la Rocha along with guitarist Tom Morello, drummer Brad Wilk and bassist Tim Commerford were very angry young men when they released their debut album as Rage Against the Machine back in 1992.

From Killing In The Name to Wake Up, Timmy C provided the backbone to the band's biggest tunes, forging a powerful link between Brad Wilk's drumming and Tom Morello's guitar.

Check out this clip from London’s Finsbury park:

When Rage split in 2000, Commerford hooked up with rock super groups Audioslave and Prophets of Rage, as well as forming his own alt-punk group, Wakrat.

On the bass front, Timmy C has held it down with Fenders, Sadowskys, Steinbergers and everything in between over the years. He is currently smitten with Music Man StingRays.

It’s no understatement to say that with Muse Chris Wolstenholme has set a new standard when it comes to modern day rock bass playing.

Unbelievably, Wolstenholme only picked up the bass two days before he teamed up with Matt Bellamy and Dominic Howard in their band Rocket Baby Dolls. Prior to that he had played guitar, and would usually be found perched behind the drum kit.

Fortunately, they changed the band name to Muse, and went on to scour the heights of rock stardom with Chris bringing us iconic distorted basslines like Hysteria, Time Is Running Out, Plug In Baby and New Born. Here’s Hysteria live from Wembley Stadium.

Alongside Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce re-wrote the rulebook in their brief, but spectacular 2-year stint as the legendary super group, Cream.

He was a real force of nature who also made some serious contributions as a composer, singer, bassist and band leader.

Wheels of Fire is the essential Jack Bruce album when it comes to Cream, with classic live tracks alongside the studio material. In the studio Jack was pretty focussed, but it’s the live recordings where he really stretches the limits of the songs to breaking point.

Recorded in France sometime in the late-60s, here’s Cream with Spoonful – nice hat, Jack:

With Cream, Bruce recorded with a Fender Bass VI and his classic Gibson EB-3 before moving to fretless bass in the mid-seventies.

Les Claypool may not be the most technically proficient bass player on this list, but his ability to throw all kinds of weird slapping, tapping, slides and chording into the mix makes him a true one-off.

Les is best known for mixing it up on his Carl Thompson fretless 6-string, but you will have also seen him on a Carl Thompson 4-string, which is equipped with some kind of weird vibrato/whammy bar.

With his band Primus he forever changed the face of bass. Check out Jerry Was A Race Car Driver and Tommy the Cat from the band’s 1991 album Sailing the Seas of Cheese.

This list would not be complete without tipping our cap to the legendary Duff McKagan, bassist with one of the world’s most volatile and exciting bands, Guns N Roses.

Perhaps the last and greatest hard-rock stars of the last century, much of GN’R’s drive and success can be attributed to Michael ‘Duff’ McKagan, who became iconic for his energetic, melodic bass playing, which he delivered on a Fender Jazz Bass Special.

Check out classic albums Appetite For Destruction from 1987 and the Use Your Illusion double albums from 1991.

Oh, and he wasn’t afraid to take the odd solo too.. check out this clip from Tokyo.

Next up is Gary Lee Weinrib – nicknamed Geddy Lee after the way his grandmother used to pronounce his name. Geddy needs no introduction as the leader of perhaps the most talented power trio in history. RUSH.

Combining aggressive rock-elements with quirky time signatures and key changes, Geddy’s bass playing veers from the subtle to the atmospheric, to an all-out riff storm. The band’s popularity peaked with the superb Moving Pictures album in 1981.

Here they are wit the album’s opening track, Tom Sawyer:

Billy Sheehan’s dazzling bass chops coupled with his fast and furious basslines and his no-holds-barred solos have influenced bass players for decades.

Literally thousands of gigs with Talas, his band from Buffalo, New York – not to mention his high profile work with David Lee Roth, Mr Big, Niacin, The Winery Dogs and more recently Sons of Apollo – have ensured his status as a bonafide bass icon.
Gear-wise, Billy is best known for his Signature Yamaha Attitude Bass, although he plucked a Fender or two in his early days as well.

Check out his David Lee Roth’s 1986 album, Eat Em and Smile and Mr Big’s self-titled debut album from 1989.

Originally a trumpet and French horn player with the school orchestra, John Entwistle took up the bass aged 14, and soon began developing his own rhythmic approach to the bass.

At a time when everyone was playing with a plectrum or with their thumb, Entwistle would tap the strings with a kind of quick pushing motion - a technique he really drove home when he started playing Alembic basses in the mid-seventies.

But rewind to 1965, and it was Entwistle’s grinding solo on The Who’s My Generation that finally made people sit up and take notice of the bassist. Bass players the world over had a voice at last!

Here’s a live clip from the band’s heyday in 1967.

Born John Baldwin in 1946, it should come as no surprise to see Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones high up on this list.

Aside from being in the greatest rock rhythm section of all time with Led Zep, John Paul Jones was also one of the top session players in the 60s, playing on records by everyone from the Rolling Stones to the Yardbirds.

When Zep finished in 1980 he was called up by the likes of Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel, REM and let’s not forget his work with Sea Sick Steve

and rock super group Them Crooked Vultures.

But it’s his bass work on Led Zep’s second album that will stand the test of time. From his wandering bassline on Ramble On to Heartbreaker, which really showcases one of the best crunch bass sounds ever.

There was never really any doubt about who would top this list, was there? Michael ‘Flea’ Balzary (nicknamed for his small statue as well as his onstage antics) is one of the finest rock bass players to ever walk the earth. From humble beginnings with the Red Hot Chili Peppers Flea evolved a frighteningly fast slap style that he mixed with his love of hardcore punk.

Check out this clip from Long Beach Arena on December 30th, 1989.

Whether it’s his blistering basslines from 1989’s Mother’s Milk or his landmark playing on 1991’s Blood Sugar Sex Magic, Flea has proven that he can nail everything from funked-out slap to melodic pick playing.

Flea has experimented with a variety of basses over the years, from his Ernie Ball StingRay to an Alembic Epic and not forgetting his signature Modulus and Fender Jazz Basses, which he released back in 2016.

Check out his solo rendition of Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain in this next clip.

As always, see you in the shed…

Scott :)