Batterie Magazine numéro 192

Nowadays, it's no surprise to see a live drummer perched on a rotating platform. Tommy Lee, Joey Jordison and Travis Barker have been known to perform this kind of feat on stage, but imagine the astonishment of the audience when they saw Buddy Rich perform his first loop on live American television 30 years earlier! Like his rival and friend Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich was the first great drumming icon, in the "popular" sense of the word. We're not just talking about a musician adored by insiders, but a personality known to all, young and old, music lovers and non-musicians alike, in the manner of a TV presenter or a pop star. To understand the phenomenon, we must go back to a time when big bands ruled the world of commercial music. These were the bands that young Americans went to on Saturday nights to let off steam. The drummers in these bands were the David Guetta and DJ Snake of yesteryear, whose beats set the pace for the parties of youth across the Atlantic. With his extraordinary swing, technique and showmanship, Buddy Rich stepped into the breach and made his mark like no one else.
35 years after his death, Battery Magazine tries to answer the question: why will there never be another drumming superstar like Buddy Rich?