The drummer that Gene Simmons said is one of the best of all time

One of the most famous and influential musicians in the world since the 70s, the Kiss co-founder, bassist and singer Gene Simmons had the chance to see many incredible musicians playing over the decades. When it comes to drummers, he worked with amazing ones like Peter Criss, Eric Carr and Eric Singer, but there is another one that he really likes and once said is one of the best of all time.

The drummer that Gene Simmons said is one of the best of all time

The drummer that Gene Simmons said is one of the best of all time is not a Rock and Roll musician but was an inspiration for countless Rock drummers. As he told Ultimate Guitar in 2023, in his opinion, the American Jazz drummer Buddy Rich was one of the greatest ones on his instrument.

He mentioned the artist when talking about musicians who couldn’t read or write music but were incredible. “Buddy Rich is one of the all-time greatest band leaders and drummers, but he couldn’t read or write music, he did it all by ear. So the first thing I teach everybody is to forget what the strings are called, and what the notes are called, the first string is ‘one,’ the second string is ‘two,’ and ‘three,’ and then ‘four.'”

He continued:

“And you’re gonna give me combinations of numbers, they’ll go, ‘three,’ and ‘one,’ and ‘four,’ and all that. And then I go, Okay, here’s the count, boom, boom, everybody starts plugging away at those three [notes they called out], and then it’s musical, they don’t have to know the names of (the notes),” Gene Simmons said.

Like Kiss, Buddy Rich was also born in New York City and started his career there. He was born in 1917 and started his musical career in 1921 when he was still a kid, already playing the drums. When he was only 18 months he became part of his parents’ vaudeville act, dressed in a sailor suit playing an arrangement of The Stars and Stripes Forever behind a large bass and snare drum.

The act used to be finished with Buddy Rich appearing from behind the drums tap-dancing. When he was 4, he already was the headliner in Broadway, being called “Baby Traps the Drum Wonder”. As a teenager, he was already a band leader, touring across the United States and Australia.

From then on, Buddy Rich became over the decades one of the most influential and praised drummers in the world. He was known for his incredible technique, power and speed. As noted by Gene Simmons, despite Rich’s success and talent, he never learned how to read sheet music. He always relied on his photographic memory and to learn things by ear.

Peter Criss was influenced by Buddy Rich

Gene Simmons was not the only member of Kiss who loved Buddy Rich. His former bandmates Peter Criss and Eric Singer also praised the late artist a few times.

The band’s co-founder and original Kiss drummer actually got interested in playing drums when he was a kid after listening to names like Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa. It was much later that he would discover Rock and Roll and drummers of that music genre.

In an interview with Kiss Hell back in 1997, Criss praised Rich, saying he was one of his first influences. “Well definitely Gene Krupa, I think him and Buddy Rich were the big drummers when I was a kid. I was a little boy and my father used to have all their albums. I just thought these guys were awesome. Finally when I got into rock & roll drumming I liked Charlie Watts. Not that many people think he’s great but I love Charlie Watts. I think he’s great. I’ve always dug John Bonham. I was influenced a lot by Keith Moon, Ginger Baker and definitely Mitch Mitchell. So those were a lot of influences on me.”

Eric Singer also praised Buddy Rich

The final Kiss drummer Eric Singer is curiously also a big fan of Buddy Rich. In a conversation with Tim McPhate in 2010 he praised the musician saying he had the chance not only to see him playing on TV but also live.

“When I grew up Buddy Rich was on TV all the time. I got to see him live a couple of times. So I was exposed to a lot of the big band style of music. I really appreciate those types of drummers. I would say that I was influenced by the drummer’s role in the band. Even though I play rock, I tried to always approach my role in a band as a rock drummer kind of like a big band drummer in the sense that the drummer in big bands. He would really drive the band.”

“The great big band drummers were the guys that really had power and could drive the band. And I always felt that that’s the job of the drummer in a rock band. To take that kind of approach and do the same thing. Really lead the band and drive it in a live sense. Really kick the band in the ass,” Eric Singer said.