Early Years
Of Italian-American descent, Criss is the oldest of the five children of Joseph and Loretta Criscuola; he grew up in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York. He was a childhood friend of Jerry Nolan, who would later find success as the drummer for the New York Dolls.
He was an avid art student and a jazz aficionado. While playing with bandleader Joey Greco, Criss ended up studying under his idol, Gene Krupa, at the Metropole Club in New York. This blossomed into an active musical career as he went on to play jazz and rock with a number of bands in New York and New Jersey throughout the 1960s.
Read more about this topic: Peter Criss
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