Neal Peart: the best drummer in all of music.
But once again he lists his biggest influence as Neil Peart. Don't get me wrong, I think Neil is fantastic.
Portnoy names his biggest influences as Rush drummer Neil Peart and composer/guitarist Frank Zappa. Other favorites include drummers Terry Bozzio, Vinnie Colaiuta, Peter Criss, Simon Phillips, John Bonham, Vinnie Paul, Carl Palmer, Keith Moon, Ringo Starr, Phil Collins, Bill Bruford, and bands such as Rush, The Beatles, Queen, Yes, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Genesis, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Pink Floyd, Tool, Meshuggah, Pantera, Muse, Metallica, Megadeth, Jellyfish, Iron Maiden, KISS, Phish, Deep Purple, Radiohead, Umphrey's McGee, U2 and Jane's Addiction.
Portnoy has won 23 awards from Modern Drummer magazine, including "Best Up & Coming Talent" (one time), "Best Clinician" (two times), "Best Educational Video/DVD" (two times), "Best recorded performance" (6 times) and "Best Progressive Rock Drummer" (for 12 consecutive years), and is also the second youngest person (at 37 years of age) to be inducted into the Rock Drummer Hall of Fame since Neil Peart was inducted in 1983 (at 31 years of age).
Keith Moon is the best drummer of all time.