Last Updated on December 1, 2025 by Black Sunshine Media
Much in the same way I rate guitar players by their influence on my playing, rock bassists are only as good as their best line—the one that sticks with me. Though I mostly came up as a guitarist, from the mid-1990s to the present, I played bass in Golden Tones and on all my solo work with Aztec Hearts. The instrument was foisted on me by circumstance, but I learned to love it, and I learned how to play by listening to other bassists.
And like guitar, I haven’t touched my beloved 1978 Fender Precision in several years, but the following bassists were massively influential on my development. In the spirit of previous listicles, some players on this list have a singular bass performance that was burned into my psyche. Others were inspirational in sound and/or spirit.
These are my top rock bassists of all time, and I’m only going to give you one reason why I adore them (with occasional commentary!).
John Deacon (Queen)
The bass performance of “Another One Bites the Dust”, “Under Pressure”, or a dozen other Queen songs.
Tom Petersson (Cheap Trick)
The bass performance of “On Top of the World”.
Michael Anthony (Van Halen)
Michael Anthony has been shaded over the years for having one of the easiest gigs in history, but it takes a special talent to play bass for perhaps the greatest rock guitarist of the 20th century. I’ve loved him from the moment I heard the bass performance on “Runnin’ With the Devil”. It’s not what Anthony plays. It’s what he doesn’t play that makes him so great.
Chris Squire (Yes)
“Roundabout” is one of the greatest rock bass lines ever recorded. Almost untouchable.
Mike Watt (Minutemen, Firehose, Iggy and the Stooges)
My indie rock hero. His entire career, but the performance of “Honey, Please” remains my favorite.
Joe Osborn (Simon & Garfunkel)
The bass performance of “Keep The Customer Satisfied” is how I learned to play a walking bass line.
Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy)
The bass performance of “Fighting My Way Back”.
Geddy Lee (Rush)
The bass performance of “Freewill”.
Chuck Rainey (Steely Dan)
The bass performance of “Green Earrings.”
John Entwhistle (The Who)
The bass performance of “Summertime Blues” from Live at Leeds (1970).
Peter Cetera (Chicago)
The bass performance of “Make Me Smile”.
Klaus Floride (Dead Kennedys)
The bass performance of “Holiday in Cambodia”.
Nathan Watts (Stevie Wonder)
The bass performance of “I Wish”.
Billy Cox (Jimi Hendrix)
The bass performance of “Freedom”.
John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin)
The bass performance of “What Is and What Should Never Be”.
John Wetton (King Crimson)
The bass performance of “The Great Deceiver”.
Carol Kaye & Lyle Ritz (The Beach Boys)
The bass performance of “God Only Knows”.
David Steele (The English Beat)
The bass performance of “Hands Off, She’s Mine”.
Steve Severin (Siouxsie & the Banshees)
The bass performance of “Spellbound”.
Tony Visconti (David Bowie)
The bass performance of “The Width of a Circle”.
Simon Gallup (The Cure)
The bass performance of “Siamese Twins”.
Eric Avery (Jane’s Addiction)
The bass performance of “Summertime Rolls”.
Kim Deal (Pixies)
The bass performance of “Hey”.
Bob Daisley (Ozzy Osbourne)
The bass performance of “Flying High Again”.
Graham Lewis (Wire)
The bass performance of “Map Ref 41 Degrees N 93 Degrees W”.
John Cale (Velvet Underground)
The bass performance of “Sunday Morning”.
Colin Moulding (XTC)
The bass performance of “Earn Enough for Us”.
Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle)
The bass performance of “Sweet Charity”.
Paul Simonon (The Clash)
The bass performance of “Lost in the Supermarket”.
Greg Norton (Hüsker Dü)
The bass performance of “59 Times the Pain”.
Mike Mills (R.E.M.)
The bass performance of “Oddfellows Local 151”.
Adam Ant (Adam & the Ants)
The bass performance of “Digital Tenderness”.
Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath)
The bass performance of “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”.
Sting (The Police)
The bass performance of “Omegaman”.
Mike Rutherford (Genesis)
The bass performance of “Back in N.Y.C”.
David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
This is not a typo. Check the personnel credits. Gilmour played bass on at least half of The Wall (1979), this cut included. The bass performance of “Comfortably Numb”.
Cliff Williams (AC/DC)
The bass performance of “Shoot to Thrill”.
Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads)
The bass performance of “Once in a Lifetime”.
Lemmy (Motörhead)
The bass performance of “Ace of Spades”.
Rick Danko (The Band)
The bass performance of “Chest Fever”.
Dusty Hill (ZZ Top)
The bass performance of “La Grange”.
Leon Wilkeson (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
The bass performance of “I Ain’t the One”.
Trevor Bolder (David Bowie)
The bass performance of “Panic in Detroit”.
Paul McCartney (The Beatles)
The bass performance of “Come Together”.
Noel Redding (Jimi Hendrix)
The bass performance of “Third Stone From the Sun”.
Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, et al.)
The bass performance of “Games Without Frontiers”.
Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith)
The bass performance of “Sweet Emotion”.
Chris White (The Zombies)
The bass performance of “Time of the Season”.
Jack Bruce (Cream)
The bass performance of “White Room”.
Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead)
The studio bass performance of “St. Stephen”.
Who’s not on my list is probably worth a paragraph or two. Right away, you’ll notice the absence of some major names like Les Claypool, Cliff Burton, Flea, Bill Wyman, Jack Bruce, Roger Waters, et al. they never made an impression on me.
Les Claypool plays an avant-garde approximation of rock bass percussion. I can take about two minutes of “Jerry the Race Car Driver” before I’m out.
Like every Metallica bassist, Cliff Burton was buried in the mix (except for his solo piece, “Whiplash” on Kill ‘Em All), and his parts followed the main riffs.
Based on principle, I could never get into anything by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Flea does a lot of slapping bullshit I can do without.
Bill Wyman didn’t even play bass on some of the Stones’ best cuts.
Roger Waters played a lot of straight quarter, half, and whole notes. A chimp could play bass for Pink Floyd.
