The 13 Greatest Bassists in Heavy Metal

The instrument nobody watches, played by the people who decided what metal sounds like underneath.

1. 1
   Cliff Burton

   Metallica's bassist until his death in 1986, who wrote a bass solo into a thrash album.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Lemmy Kilmister

   Motorhead's frontman, who played bass like a rhythm guitar through a distorted stack.
   622pts
3. 3
   Geezer Butler

   Black Sabbath's bassist and lyricist, whose lines shaped the low end of metal itself.
   512pts
4. 4
   Rex Brown

   Pantera's bassist across the groove-metal records that defined the 1990s.
   512pts
5. 5
   Tony Levin

   Session and King Crimson bassist whose Stick playing bled into progressive metal.
   444pts
6. 6
   Tom Araya

   Slayer's bassist and vocalist, holding the fastest rhythm section in thrash together.
   444pts
7. 7
   Steve Harris

   Iron Maiden's founder and galloping engine, writing most of the band's catalogue from the bass.
   363pts
8. 8
   Robert Trujillo

   Metallica's bassist since 2003, previously the finger-style anchor of Suicidal Tendencies.
   363pts
9. 9
   Jason Newsted

   Metallica's bassist from 1986 to 2001, hired into the hardest job in metal.
   266pts
10. 10
    John Myung

    Dream Theater's bassist, the technical benchmark for progressive metal players.
    266pts
11. 11
    David Ellefson

    Megadeth's long-serving bassist, the counterweight to Mustaine's thrash writing.
    0pts
12. 12
    Frank Bello

    Anthrax's bassist since 1984, the most visibly kinetic player of the Big Four.
    0pts
13. 13
    Nikki Sixx

    Motley Crue's bassist and chief songwriter through the Sunset Strip years.
    0pts

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