Top 10 Greatest Rock Keyboardists and Pianists

With all due respect, this list is a joke. For instance, take Ray Manzarek. As much as I loved him, he was highly simplistic in his playing and stuck there. He was innovative, and there would hardly be any Doors without him. But anyone with any real musical knowledge knows that Ray was no technician or even a highly skilled player. Nor did he pretend to be.

Keith Emerson, on the other hand, blew them all away and more. No one in rock comes close. He's even turned some heads in the jazz scene, which is saying a lot because jazz musicians too often carry airs of superiority and have little or no respect for rock musicians. Keith was also the foremost composer and arranger in classical-rock. Even a number one position for Keith on lists such as this is an understatement.

Too often, people overlooked Deep Purple because of the constant turmoil that surrounded the band. Case in point: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had to posthumously allow one of the greatest keyboardists into their ridiculous club.

Allowing bands like The Beastie Boys, Nirvana, Guns and Roses, and the Sex Pistols in ahead of so many worthy artists is a damned shame.

It was a rare alignment of the solar system. Somehow, Deep Purple had the greatest keyboardist (Jon Lord), the greatest lead guitarist (Ritchie Blackmore), and one of the greatest lead vocalists (Ian Gillan) of all time.

He is just a magician with his hands. A virtuoso. A great composer too, although here we vote for the better pianist. He, Jon Lord, and Ray Manzarek are the best.

Although I think of Lord and Manzarek as better musicians because their orchestration skills are superior, Rick is the top-notch pianist of them all. Lord is the maestro, Ray is the pioneer and the dreamer, and Rick is the virtuoso.

Incredibly technically gifted. Not a fan of his early solo work (it has not aged well), but my God, this man's fingers are so agile!

Wright made keyboards a vehicle to show his soul, inventiveness, art, and technique all at once. Without him, there's no real Pink Floyd (as The Final Cut, no matter how good, proves). He has always been underrated as a keyboard player, but no one else has propelled the instrument to the stratospheric heights at which he excelled. Rick was more of a virtuoso than he seemed but generally chose to lay the musical carpet for others to stand over and play.

He was also the better composer of melodies in Pink Floyd, as well as a good lead singer. His quiet, peaceful, and very good nature kept him a step below the fight for leadership between Waters and Gilmour. For me, after the Barrett era (when Rick was clearly Syd's right-hand man) and with absolute respect for his fellow bandmates, Wright has been the most important member of Pink Floyd.

Composes classical music, invents and creates both new electronic instruments and software packages, and plays as well as anyone who has ever stroked the electric keys.

Listen to your favorite keyboardist and then check out some of the videos online of Jordan playing. And weep.

Rudess is a monster. He's fast, technical, melodic, and will do things with a keyboard that will put a smile on your face. He's crazy, but also a complete genius in this field.

Emerson might be your hero, but Rudess will always be the God of Keyboards.

The original great rock/prog keyboard player. Made so many Doors tracks memorable. I'm a huge fan of others on the list and listen to some more than RM, but he was the daddy of them all.

Ray should be way higher. The way he combined Renaissance music with rock to create one of the biggest psychedelic experiences is phenomenal.

The Doors were about three things: astonishing vocals from Morrison, weird Robby Krieger solos, and, most of all, Manzarek's keyboards. A very intelligent musician. Just listen to Break on Through, Light My Fire, or The End. He also wrote great compositions.

Banks is the number one keyboardist in the rock era. Wakeman and Emerson are more technically proficient and achieved many highs, but much of their work is too noodly or discordant in the mix. This results in tedious exercises or whacked-out space sounds. Banks (and Genesis) blend a lot better into an overall composition piece. Nothing from ELP or Yes can approximate the beauty and majesty of Cinema Show. When the song takes flight, Banks's solo lifts you up to behold a chorus of angels. It gives me goosebumps every time after 40 years.

With many more examples of these eargasms, he's the only keyboardist that reaches that emotional and spiritual peak usually reserved for Gospel or spiritual music. Simply listening to Genesis makes a listener more intelligent. For this reason, Banks far surpasses the others.

Terrible and delusional list by an obviously unqualified group of fans, not musicians or those with any musical knowledge. Elton is the greatest rock pianist. According to Van Cliburn (the greatest classical pianist of all time - he won the prestigious Tchaikovsky piano tournament in Moscow in 1957 before an all-Soviet judging panel), who stated, and I quote, "That Elton John fellow is the finest improvisational player I've ever heard! His mastery of irregular and difficult chords, and his alacrity of playing these sets while singing, is nothing short of incredible!" Enough said!

Underrated pianist. Everybody calls him the greatest singer, but he was also a very good pianist.

Top 2 in vocals, now top 3 in piano? I can say that Freddie is one of the greatest musicians who ever lived. I'd like to learn to play piano too and try to play Bohemian Rhapsody first.

Underrated pianist. He played by his own rules.

Just listen to Chest Fever. A more epic organ solo has not been done!

As a pianist myself, it's a disgrace that this man is not in the Top 10. Why is Freddie Mercury ahead of him? Freddie was an incredible singer, but his piano playing was pretty basic. Apart from basic chords, there was nothing special he did as a pianist.

Meanwhile, Billy Joel is a master of putting emotion into his piano playing, and his finger rolls are stupidly fast.

I voted for Emerson, but it needs to be said that this guy is a monstrous keyboardist. Everybody's aware of his stunning songwriting talents, but one listen to his playing on songs like "Prelude/Angry Young Man," "Root Beer Rag," "The Entertainer," "Travelin' Prayer," "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant," "Stiletto," "Great Suburban Showdown," "Los Angelenos," "James," "New York State of Mind," and... man, the list is endless!

Geddy Lee is one of the most disciplined and hardworking rock and rollers of all time.

How can the keyboard, bass, vocalist not be in the top 10? Sad.

A unique style, completely different from Wakeman's, a cleaner player on another note. I love Rick, but guys like Moraz or Emerson are much more technically proficient. Rick will always throw in a bad note during his keyboard licks.

Emerson is near perfection, same for Moraz. But my truest idol is Tony Banks.

Exceptional contribution in Yes' album Relayer and great talent live in the Relayer tour. Made us nearly forget about Rick!

He's top in my book. Most famous opening of the most downloaded song.

You and your wife, Tane, were second to none in what you did. Yay, JC! His playing defined arena keyboard rock.

Highly underrated like every other member from Bon Jovi. Watch him play Keep the Faith live, and you will realize his talent. He literally plays five keyboards at a time. He has also played beautiful piano on songs like Always and Bed of Roses.

An extremely versatile keyboardist, his musicianship ranges from being a supporting instrumentalist in songs like Livin' on a Prayer and It's My Life, to being a driving force on songs like Bad Medicine and Runaway.

Are you kidding me? He plays five keyboards at a time and improvises each show! Amazing technique and playing. Plus, Memphis is a piece of work. I dare anyone to play that piece as well as him, as well as some other piano versions of the full rock band songs!

Revolutionary guitarist, pretty good at piano/keyboards, and he can also sing pretty well. This dude is amazing.

He makes great melodies on the keyboard and plays guitar too. One of the best, I think.

A list of rock keyboardists without this man is not complete. He played on many records and toured with many artists as a hired gun. Bobby Kimball from Toto, Andrew Strong, Ian Cussick, etc.

He had his own rock band, Lone Age, in the early 90s and was also the founder of the Brotherhood of Rock and Soul, featuring Kingsize Taylor and Chris Thornton Jr. He is also a skilled guitarist.

This cat is absolutely underrated. He played on so many records, toured half the world, and is an excellent guitarist and singer as well.

That Steve Winwood would be this low on a keyboard list is baffling. He invented rock and roll organ with Spencer Davis, and his organ work remains untouchable to this day. If you listen to his work on "Blind Man" from the Last Exit, Traffic album, you've got to think, Winwood was doing prog keyboards before that genre was truly identified. His piano work is untouchable, and he also plays synthesizers. Don't hate him because he is awesome. Just listen.

Steve Winwood owns the Hammond organ and the piano. You will have a hard time finding someone greater with those instruments. Furthermore, his composition skills are amazing. He has never written a bad melody.

He is number one in my book, though Keith Emerson has to be up there as well. Winwood is top three minimum.