Being both a good drummer and a good singer is no easy feat. Being able to multitask at all as a musician takes a lot of practice and skill. The following classic rock drummers, though, could sing as well as their era’s finest vocalists… and play the drums just as well. Let’s take a look and get inspired, shall we?
Phil Collins
Well, this one’s a shoo-in. Phil Collins might just be the most famous classic rock singer-drummer out there. And there’s a reason why so many of his contemporaries have praised his talents. Collins was a fine drummer and then a fine singer for Genesis, but his solo career is really where the magic of those two skills came together. His glittering vocals and ultra-memorable drum line on “In The Air Tonight” just can’t be matched. He may have gotten thrown under the bus back in the day for being “cheesy,” but he’s gotten enough retrospective love today to earn “legendary” status.
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Karen Carpenter
This entry on our list of drummers who could sing went beyond just rock. Much of The Carpenters’ music in the 1960s and 1970s touched on soft rock but also touched on pop, jazz, easy listening, and beyond. Karen Carpenter and her brother Richard Carpenter were a solid duo, and they were made better by Karen’s insane skills as a singer and drummer. She made balancing both talents at the same time look easy as pie. She was a legend, and I wish we could have had more time to celebrate her while she was alive.
Don Henley
Don Henley wasn’t just enormously talented as a drummer for Eagles while also being quite good at singing. He was also a very good songwriter and wrote countless hits while in Eagles and as a solo artist. Each of his talents seemed to reach for the most attention throughout his career. However, I’d say that his singing talents are particularly incredible, though his drumming skills are nothing to sneeze at. But when it comes down to it, Henley is best known as one of the most poetic classic rock songwriters of his generation.
Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns