New Poll Ranks Greatest Bassists in Rock

Bass players have been the butt of jokes for years (How do you get a bass player off your porch?  Pay for the pizza).  Although it isn't the most glamorous instrument, some bassists are indispensable members of their bands.  The popular music website Metal Hammer just released their annual reader's poll ranking the greatest bass players in rock.

Iron Maiden's Steve Harris finished first on their list, followed by Metallica's late bassist Cliff Burton, Geddy Lee from Rush, Geezer Butler from Black Sabbath and Primus' Les Claypool.  And, of course, iconic Motorhead frontman, bass player, and party animal Lemmy Kilmister cracked the top 10 too.

The Metal Hammer list favors hard rock and heavy metal bands, but there are plenty of legendary bassists in all genres of rock 'n' roll.  A similar reader's poll released by Rolling Stone, recently ranked the late, great John Entwistle from The Who as the greatest of all time followed by Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

There is, however, one bass player who doesn't finish on top of reader's polls or critic's lists who deserves the title of Greatest Bassist of All Time.  And, even though his bass guitar prowess if often over shadowed by his singing and songwriting, there shouldn't be a debate.  Sir Paul McCartney is the the best there is, the best there ever was and the best there ever will be.

Sure, his fingers might not move as fast as Steve Harris' and he might not "slap da bass" like Geddy Lee or Les Claypool.  But those guys didn't write "Yesterday".  With over 60 gold albums to his credit, McCartney is the only bassist on the planet to have sold over 100 million albums and 100 million singles during his illustrious career.