The ten best Bassists in the world in 2021.

[Dazed]

52 minutes ago, Mickyk said:

But if your name was on the list ,then you would have different opinion .John Taylor has to be the number one bassist simply because he has been the most successful player over the year of 2021,but agreed the others are also rans.

I’m afraid not. If I was on one of these lists I’d be surprised flattered and probably confused by my inclusion, I suspect he may think the same. 
I don’t follow many current bands and nothing that would bring me across John Taylor or Duran Duran accidentally so as an average music lover I still cannot recall anything of note during 2021, let alone being best of anything - unless there’s a specific Being John Taylor category. I’ve nothing against him either.
 

 I’m sorry I’m starting to think I’m replying to JT (Although I doubt he’d give a monkeys) or this is the latest Rickroll. 

Edited December 3, 2021 by Dazed

[Grahambythesea]

Only ever heard of 2 of them. This is so subjective and depends on tastes in music. So in my view is probably a completely irrelevant poll.

[Boodang]

This is not a list that bass players would necessarily put together. What is interesting is that this is a list of how non bass players see bass players.

[Nail Soup]

14 minutes ago, Boodang said:

What is interesting is that this is a list of how non bass players see bass players.

Probably not…… if it was compiled by the the non bass playing public there’s no way they would have named as many as ten😃

[skankdelvar]

Market researcher: Name ten famous bass guitar players
Non-bass playing public: What's a bass guitar?

MR: It's the big guitar. The guitar that's bigger than the other ones.
NBPP: Why didn't you say so?
MR: Name ten famous big guitar players
NBPP: That's easy. Paul McCartney
MR: ...and?
NBPP: Sting? He plays the big guitar doesn't he?
MR: ...and?
NBPP: Freddie Mercury?

[Doctor J]

 

[stewblack]

Any list of living bass players that fails to include Bruce Thomas is flawed. 

I demand my money back.

[Leonard Smalls]

Nice, but a bit weird, to get a Mr Bungle/John Zorn inclusion! Excellent player and bands, but not quite Stanley Clarke... I suspect some collusion from fans!

[Bassfinger]

Ridiculous. Im not even on the list and I know for a damn fact I can play their own songs better than some of them. I'll leave you guessing which ones 🤔

[SteveXFR]

This isn't a list of the best bassists. It's a list of famous bassists in popular bands who play some interesting bass parts.

They always ignore bassists who don't play anything fancy but hold together a band with absolutely solid timing, interesting rhythm and clever playing which is there to support the lead instruments and vocals. 

Edited December 4, 2021 by SteveXFR

[Rich]

"Top Ten"s are meaningless. Music is a way of life, not a competition.

[Doddy]

16 hours ago, Mickyk said:

He's not just mine ,he's millions of others too, in terms of success and popularity over the last two years he is the number one p[layer whether you like that fact or not fella.

 

Define success? I'm sure there are a load of bassists who have played on more big selling albums over the last year. I would class them as being more successful than John Taylor.

 

[Bassassin]

So - did they lock them all in a room with their basses so they'd use them to bludgeon each other unconscious? And the last one left standing was the winner?

 

Or was it 'ten random bass players some of our readers might have heard of'?

 

I've just rolled my eyes so hard I've currently got a great view of my own occipital lobe.

[TheGreek]

How can John Taylor be the best bassist in the world when he hasn't done anything for years? 

 

I don't know most of these bassists and in about 10 years time nobody will have heard of them...

 

BTW none of my top ten are on the list.

[EssentialTension]

18 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I just read a comment on FB where this list is also posted….

 

”#1 in the world? He’s not even #1 in Birmingham!” 😂

... nor #1 in Los Angeles.

[EssentialTension]

22 hours ago, neepheid said:

I only know 3 of them

I too thought I knew only three of them but then I realised I knew who John Taylor was is.

[Lozz196]

11 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

How can John Taylor be the best bassist in the world when he hasn't done anything for years? 

 

I don't know most of these bassists and in about 10 years time nobody will have heard of them...

 

BTW none of my top ten are on the list.

Good point Mick, JT is still an awesome  bass player but all the great bass lines he plays are nearly 40 years old.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

26 minutes ago, EssentialTension said:

... nor #1 in Los Angeles.

Not my words, but I think we know what was meant.

[Bassfinger]

1 hour ago, TheGreek said:

How can John Taylor be the best bassist in the world when he hasn't done anything for years? 

Hes not even the best bassist in his household.

[Mickyk]

2 hours ago, Doddy said:

Define success? I'm sure there are a load of bassists who have played on more big selling albums over the last year. I would class them as being more successful than John Taylor.

 

Feel free to name them fella.

[ambient]

On 03/12/2021 at 15:01, neepheid said:

I only know 3 of them

Same here.

[Munurmunuh]

Presumably the top 5 Bassists of 2021 are all youtubers

[ambient]

These things are always very subjective. If you’re a jazzer your top 10 will no doubt feature loads of jazz players. If you’re a metal fan it’ll be metal bassists.

 

My #1 of 2021 is Michael Manring who most bassists dislike. He released a fabulous album this year - his first album for ages.

 

John Myung is still brilliant. Arran McSporran plays some beautiful fretless lines on the new Utopia album.

[SteveXFR]

2 hours ago, TheGreek said:

How can John Taylor be the best bassist in the world when he hasn't done anything for years? 

 

I don't know most of these bassists and in about 10 years time nobody will have heard of them...

 

BTW none of my top ten are on the list.

 

They did release a new album this year. It's very average. Not a single big song of the standard they used to make.

 

For 2021 I'd have Troy Sanders, Ben Chisholm and Jean Michelle-Labadie in the top 10. All have new records released this year with excellent sounding bass. They aren't individually famous but that doesn't stop them being extremely good. 

[Doddy]

58 minutes ago, Mickyk said:

Feel free to name them fella.

Will Lee, Nathan East, Sean Hurley, Chris Chaney, Jimmie Lee Sloas, Steve Pearce.......to name a few. All of them have played on more big selling albums than John Taylor. Or do they not count because they are first call session players rather than band guys?