Lars Ulrich (born December 26, 1963) is the drummer and co-founder of Metallica. He was born in Gentofte, Denmark to an upper middle-class family. A tennis prodigy in his youth, Ulrich moved to Los Angeles, California at age seventeen to pursue his training, but instead of playing tennis, he ended up as a drummer. After publishing an advertisement in a local Los Angeles newspaper called The Recycler, he met James Hetfield and formed Metallica.The young Ulrich found himself mesmerized by the performance, buying the band's Fireball album the very next day. The concert and the album had a considerable impact on Ulrich, inspiring his entrance into the world of rock and roll and later on, heavy metal. As a result of his newfound interest in music, he received his first drum kit at the age of thirteen, a Ludwig. In 1981, Ulrich met James Hetfield in Downey, California and formed the thrash metal band Metallica. Ulrich's early work with Metallica led him to be dubbed as one of the thrash metal scene's drumming greats. He was highly influenced by Clive Brooks drummimg on the Steve Hillage Green album on The Glorious Om Riff track. He became known for his pioneering fast thrash drum beats and techniques featuring on many of Metallica's early songs Ulrich is an endorser of Tama drums, Zildjian cymbals and Remo drumheads. He has said: "Zildjian cymbals are not just the best cymbals, but the ONLY cymbals". He is rarely, if ever, seen without these brands onstage. He has, however, been known to use a mixture of brands when recording in the studio, including Ludwig-Musser drums, Gretsch drums and Sabian cymbals. Ulrich was an endorsee of Calato Regal Tip drumsticks, but changed to Easton Ahead in 1994. Tama Drums has produced two signature snare drums, the bell brass snare drum and one which is diamond plated. Both snare drums measure 6.5x14 and provide powerful attack and tons of low end sound. George Peter John Criscuola (born December 20, 1945), better known as Peter Criss, is an American musician best known as co-founder, drummer and vocalist for the rock band KISS. Criss established the "cat" character for his KISS persona.