Taurus Drummers Playlist

Vector Drawing of a neon yellow/green drum set with the Taurus symbol on the bass drum head. Background is a dark brown brick wall with the green and black "TAURUS DRUMMERS" text over the drum set. — Created by Emmy in Adobe Fresco

Looking to connect with your favorite Taurus artists on a deeper level? Tired of everyone always focusing on the singer and ignoring the rest of the band? Then you’ve come to the right place! In this article, we will not only get to know the Taurus archetype; we will get to know some of the best drummers out there. The strength, the beauty, the down to earth rhythm…it’s all here.

If you are not so interested in reading, skip ahead to the Taurus Drummers Playlist.

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Emmy’s Favorite Taurus Drummers

I’m gonna be honest, this list was extremely hard to narrow down, because it’s clear that Earth signs make the best drummers (spoiler alert! Capricorn’s and Virgo’s make fantastic drummers as well).

Now you know I LOVE research rabbit holes, so part of what helped me narrow this down was finding videos that screamed “Taurus” at me. While I left out some great drummers in the deep dive, know that they are still very present throughout this playlist. Feel free to listen on your own and let me know if you can hear/feel the Taurus vibes throughout the playlist.

Before we dive into these drummers as individuals though, let’s recap some keywords and what it means to be a Taurus in general.

Keywords to Remember:

Materialistic, Persistent, Stable, Secure, Sensual, Stubborn, and Trustworthy.

With these keywords in mind, it’s time to get into our Taurus drummers!

Shannon Larkin 4-24-1967 (Godsmack)

I chose this Loudwire video that highlights Shannon Larkin’s beautiful Taurean qualities for a couple of reasons; the first one being, he has an Astrology tattoo on his neck! The part of the body ruled by Taurus is the neck; so, it’s only fitting that although he is full of tattoos, he was scared to get a tat on his neck. Within this video, he also mentions the occult symbolism of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water within this tattoo. And you know we love to hear about that in the astrological world.

Naturally, the mention of his side project and neck tat led me down another musical rabbit hole. For those of you that are interested in more from Shannon Larkin; check out his side project: The Apocalypse Blues Revival.

The second reason I chose this video was his comment “I’m covered in pentacles and pentagrams.” Pentacles represent Earth in the Tarot, and Taurus is the first Earth sign of the zodiac. He then goes on to mention his collection of occult things, and I love this because Taurus is known to be materialistic. Materialistic may sound like a bad word, but I’m learning it’s actually a great thing to respect your items, because they all carry their own unique energies.

Now on to the drumming. I usually give a quick recap for these videos and don’t expect you to watch every one of them; however, this drum battle video is a requirement… because it’s awesome! You have to watch it. I promise if you love drum battles, you will love this Godsmack, Taurus and Aquarius drum battle. Sully Erna (the one drumming with his hands at the beginning of this video), is not only a great singer, but also an amazing drummer and percussionist.

Taurus + Aquarius

Plus Sully is an Aquarius, so with this video we get to see a physical representation of the fixed tension/battle/squaring energy that Aquarius and Taurus have with each other. Squares in Astrology represent tension, but they are not all bad though. Squares can actually be quite beautiful if we just step aside and let their differences shine. While the Aquarius gets flashy and eccentric, the Taurus holds a steady rhythm. And we get to listen to a bomb, heavy, metal, drum battle.

A Big List of Taurus Artists (and a playlist)

Joey Jordison 4-26-1975 (Slipknot, Rob Zombie)

If you’re squeamish, you can go ahead and skip this video of Joey adding blood to his drum sticks. I shared it because it’s bizarre, but metal AF! And how Taurus of Joey to sign his drum sticks with blood? Talk about a physical connection to his craft!

Duality is one of those videos that brings back so many memories for me. Back in my day, there were these TV channels called MTV and VH1 that played hours upon hours of music videos ;). In the summer time, my sister and I would watch these videos until my mom kicked us out to watch her Soap Operas.

I remember watching this particular video and thinking, this is my worst nightmare! I’m terrified of crowds. I like to think I could handle myself in a mosh pit someday, but deep down I know I would hate it. But enough of my trip down memory lane. Although singers bring the lyrics to the music, I believe every member of the band can be represented in the words a song conveys.

“Pull me back together
Or separate the skin from the bone
Leave me all the pieces
and then you can leave me alone
Tell me the reality is better than dream
But I found out the hard way
Nothing is what it seems!”

Taurus + Scorpio

I chose these particular lyrics because they really speak to the Taurus/Scorpio duality. (Keep in mind: Joey’s birth time isn’t accurate, but everywhere on the web has him as a Scorpio Moon…and I could totally see that for him.)

Oppositions in Astrology represent contrast, as well as balance. While Scorpio is the sign of decay, intensity, and water; conversely, Taurus is the sign of physicality, reality, and earth. The two concepts contradict each other, but neither one is better than the other.

Making decisions is tough and we will never truly know the “what if” of the decisions we didn’t make. In fact, if we think about it too much we can drive ourselves mad. So while Taurus is stubborn and immovable at times, they learn through their Scorpio duality that letting things go and sinking into the pain is often the only way through to their wildest dreams.

Danny Carey 5-10-1961 (Tool)

When talking about drumming in this Mandala Drum interview, Danny Carey mentions the importance of playing a song, rather than beats. He says (about drumming), “that’s your job, to lead people into the space.” Knowing that this is how he feels about his craft, explains so much. It’s easy to get lost in time when listening to a Tool song. Many of them (like the one in the video below) are lengthy, but it doesn’t even matter. You will see from this Taurus Drummers Playlist, that Tool’s music captivates and stays interesting throughout because Danny isn’t just supporting the song with repetitive beats alone; he is playing a song within the song.

Side note, Google defines “Song” as: “a short poem or other set of words set to music or meant to be sung.” As you can see in this Pneuma video, to Danny, the drums speak.

Taurus + The Second House

In essence, Taurus, like the second house, represents our connection to the five senses. In this case, sound is not the only sense Tool connects us to. The unique tones, pitches, and feelings that come from each drum contributes to the overall experience. That is to say, beyond hearing, Danny Carey’s drumming makes us feel, observe, and absorb.

Bill Kreutzmann 5-7-1946 (Grateful Dead 1965–1995)

I live for the eyebrows Bill and Mickey give each other at the beginning of this CBS interview video. Here we have Bill Kreutzmann, our resident Taurus (on the right) and Mickey Hart, his fellow Earth sign-Virgo drummer (on the left). It’s no secret that Grateful Dead is amazing because they have not one, but two drummers.

Taurus + Virgo

Mickey describing the poly-rhythms was fascinating to me! They also talk about their energy and how they have “a chemical connection that just works”…say…a trine? (A trine in Astrology brings harmony and occurs within signs of the same element, in this case Earth.) It’s like Bill provides the fixed, steady beat for half of the band to follow; whereas, Mickey provides the mutable, flowing beat for the other half of the band to follow.

Although this video doesn’t show Bill’s drumming, I love this song – Ripple, and figured my Tarot readers would appreciate the imagery as well. As you watch this video, listen to the drums and how they sound against the images.

Summary

So there you have it. The great Taurus Drummers mentioned above don’t even begin to encapsulate the entire playlist. Ultimately, some icons were left out including: Bill Ward of Black Sabbath, Alex Van Halen of Van Halen, Butch Trucks of The Allman Bothers Band, Bill Bruford of Yes, and many, many, more. That doesn’t mean these drummers will go unnoticed. Scroll down just a little bit further to access the full playlist and find your own personal favorite Taurus Drummers.

Additional Taurus Drummers

This list can be updated. If you see any Taurus Drummers missing from this list, let me know in the comments below, so I can add them to the playlist. Percussionists are welcome as well.

Lionel Hampton 4-20-1908 (Jazz Vibraphone)
Mike Portnoy 4-20-1967 (Dream Theater)
Hayden Scott 4-20-1984 (AWOLNATION)
Doug Clifford 4-24-1945 (CCR)
Jukka Nevalainen 4-21-1978 (Nightwish)
Christian Coma 4-21-1985 (Black Veil Brides)
Paul Doucette 4-22-1972 (Matchbox Twenty)
Nur Amira Syahira 4-25-2003 (TikTok drummer)
Roger Andrew Taylor 4-26-1960 (Duran Duran)
Jose Pasillas 4-26-1976 (Incubus)
Jaxon Smith 5-2-2005 (YouTube drummer)
Bill Ward 5-5-1948 (Black Sabbath)
Shawn Drover 5-5-1966 (Megadeth)
Hayley Cramer 5-6-1983 (Pop Evil)
Matt Helders 5-7-1986 (Arctic Monkeys)
Alex Van Halen 5-8-1963 (Van Halen)
Joey Zehr 5-10-1982 (The Click Five)
Butch Trucks 5-11-1947 (The Allman Brothers Band)
Christoph Schneider 5-11-1966 (Rammstein)
Eric Singer 5-12-1958 (KISS)
Joel Ekman 5-13-1973 (Stone Sour)
Rich Beddoe 5-14-1976 (Finger Eleven, Saint Asonia)Yes I totally picked this video because he’s playing Timpani and that was my instrument in marching bad.
Bill Bruford 5-17-1949 (Yes)
Dave Abbruzzese 5-17-1968 (Pearl Jam)
Phil Rudd 5-19-1954 (AC/DC)

Need more musical inspiration? Here’s some more zodiac playlists.