Paul Simonon of The Clash famously learned to play the bass guitar from scratch by practising note-for-note along to the Ramoones’ debut album.

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Bootsy Collins is as famous for his eccentric persona as his funky “space bass.” But there’s no doubt he’s an all-time great funkster.

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Bill Black’s upright bass is the heartbeat of rock’n’roll, driving the first few hits of Elvis Presley.  This is my favourite.

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Chuck Rainey is one of those Zelig-like bassists who turn up everywhere, yet never became a household name. Probably because he never tried to steal the limelight.

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Cheetah Chrome was “a one-man hurricane tearing up the musical landscape with his feral guitar riffs and manic energy.” That’s how his old bandmates from The Dead Boys paid tribute to the punk pioneer following his death at the age of 71. 

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Bob Babbitt was one of only two white musicians among the core of 13 session men in Motown’s legendary studio group The Funk Brothers.

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Carol Kaye is walking, talking, string-plucking proof that playing bass guitar is not exclusively a man’s game.

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Jack Bruce was widely revered in the late Sixties and early Seventies for his work as one-third of the first supergroup, Cream.

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Jean-Jacques Burnel, or “JJ” as he was universally known, was the French bassist who gave The Stranglers their distinctive sound.

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Oxford’s Samurai Seven Reunite After 25 Years – And One Shooting