If you ever hear anyone talk about the best drummers of all time, and if Buddy Rich isn't mentioned within the first three names, there are two possibilities:

1) The list is genre specific - like, Rock drummers only - so you're going to probably hear Neil Peart and a few others.

2) The list is a crock.

Buddy Rich is a drumming God, and it really isn't up for debate.

Buddy Rich was a born drummer. He was playing drums in vaudeville by eighteen months, he was a band leader by 11 and he everybody who was anybody played with him: Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and many others. He was blindingly fast, reaching 20 drum strokes per second (a record not yet bested) at his peak.

He kept things pretty basic, equipment-wise. His usual setup was something like this:

Drums: Slingerland
(or Ludwig - Rogers - Vox)
5 x 14 Snare
9 x 13 Tom
16 x 16 Floor Toms
14 x 24 Bass Drum (or 26)

Hardware:
Ludwig SpeedKing BD Pedal or
Rogers Swiv-o-Matic Pedal

Cymbals: Zildjan
14" New Beat Hi-Hats
(medium top, heavy bottom)
18" Thin Crash (on the left)
18" Medium-Thin Crash
(on the right)
8" Splash (also used a 6")
20" Medium Ride
22" Swish (last years)

He is perhaps best known for his drum solo on the big band version of West Side Story, reportedly one of the most difficult jazz arrangements out there.

And, also, for this duel with Animal:

It's difficult to overstate the skill of Buddy Rich. No, he didn't have 37 bass drums, enough toms to meet the musical needs of eighteen middle school band programs and a rotating metal cage of pure kitsch - and yes I am looking directly at you, Joey Jordison - but he didn't need it. Jazz is not as popular as it once was, but the raw talent exhibited by Rich should not be swept under the rug.