When does someone become a ledgend?

[phlopip]

at what point, would you say, does a drummer such as John Bonham or Buddy Rich change from being an excellent drummer...to a drumming ledgend?

[Michael G]

They just.........do.

[aydee]

Originally Posted by phlopip

at what point, would you say, does a drummer such as John Bonham or Buddy Rich change from being an excellent drummer...to a drumming ledgend?

When they re-invent their instrument & communicate their music ( notice...i said music) in a way that hasn't really been done before .

Gene Krupa, papa jo jones, buddy rich, Max Roach, Vinnie Colouita, Bonzo Bonham, Keith Moon, Mick Fleetwood, Billy Cobham, Steve Gadd, Portnoy, Chris Adler are all legends according to me.....and many more ,of course

[jonescrusher]

It helps if they die.

[ledzepjb]

When they do something that usually hasnt been done before, when they are unique, when people say that the person is their idol, dying in a tragic way when theyre in the middle of an amazing career always helps...

[drum.lad]

when they influence people with there playing and when you mention drumming non drummers will think of them.............................im a long way off

[GRUNTERSDAD]

When we put them on a pedestal. They don't become legends, we make them legends.

Edit: That is not to say that some deserve it.

[ZildjianMan1023]

you guys got it all wrong.. Omec from legends of the hidden temple comes on and makes all these great drummers legends by throwing magic cymbal shavings at them

[That Guy]

They become LEGENDS when all the other LEGENDS desire to jam with them. I also agree with jonescrusher... "it helps if they die."

[JCM]

Dying ... So you cannot be an 'alive' legend.

[TheGroceryman]

I consider Neil Peart a legend of rock drumming and hes still alive...

[Muckster]

Drumming Legends are determined when the fans and fellow drummers say so!

[k3ng]

When random people make threads about them on the internet.

[Jaden]

dying helps one in the path to legend-ness

[GRUNTERSDAD]

There are a few "living legends" in all walks of life, but not many. And its very subjective. Your legend may not be my legend.

[Ironcobra]

when non drummers know their names (or any kind of "non" (topic) person)

[Vintagedrummer]

When they start getting free pizza & the girls notice them instead of that ugly lead guitar player....

[ajgdrums7814]

Originally Posted by ironcobra

when non drummers know their names (or any kind of "non" (topic) person)

Maybe sometimes, but a lot of people know Tommy Lee and Travis Barker. I don't consider them to be anything close to drum legends. At the same time, I don't know any non-drummers who know who Vinnie Colaiuta is, and I consider him the best drummer on the planet.

'Legend' is subjective, as someone said earlier. We decide who our heroes are, and who is legendary in our own minds. You can't define legendary. My idea of it might be very different than yours. There are just some drummers that impact so many people and the instrument itself (Buddy Rich, Tony Williams, John Bonham, etc.) that almost everyone feels comfortable referring to them as legends.

That's my take on it, anyway.

[NUTHA JASON]

definition of legend:

3. Any wonderful story coming down from the past, but not verifiable by historical record; a myth; a fable.

definition of legendary:


so celebrated as to having taken on the nature of a legend; "the legendary exploits of the arctic trailblazers"
fabled: celebrated in fable or legend; "the fabled Paul Bunyan and his blue ox"; "legendary exploits of Jesse James"

a drummming legend is someone who was unbelievably good. if you take it literally it seems that a drumming legend is someone who may or may not have been as good as people through multiple telling have made them out to be. This is problematic in terms of the evidence that these days is able to be accurately recorded in film and sound - we no longer have to believe a trumped up story, we can watch and hear and decide for ourselves. the original and literal idea of 'legend' is no longer feasable.

therefore a modern interpretation of the word legend is needed and pending. for a great drummer to become legendary they have to be widely talked about and acclaimed. a distinction (based loosely on the old interpretation of the word) should be drawn between legends (great and dead) and living legends (so great that it is already widely accepted that when they die they will automatically be legends)

as to the idea that there is some line that can be crossed for a drummer to go from great drummer to be called legend... perhaps this line is very wide, blurred or shifting... but certainly not definable.

j