Welcome to Modern Drummer’s Tribute to Buddy Rich on what will soon be the forty-year anniversary his passing. Yes, it is nearly forty years after his last jaw dropping solo, and drummers are still talking about him, shaking their heads in disbelief, and smiling! And rightfully so, he inspired us all! Unfortunately, as time goes by, there are less drummers around that actually saw Buddy live and in person, and even less people around that actually knew him. I saw him play a few times, and I met him once. Buddy was (as we say today,) one of one. But 40 years later, what else is there to be said? By now, nearly everything that can be said about Buddy’s drumming, has already been said. Now, we can only study the actual notes that Buddy played. That is why Modern Drummer is happy to include two new Buddy transcriptions for […]

August 2026 Issue