The 19th of September saw the death of yet another legendary drummer from the classic rock era.
Lee Kerslake, best known for his collaboration with Uriah Heep and Ozzy Osbourne, died after a few years of fighting cancer. As he said in an interview in late 2018: “It’s prostate cancer, but it’s moved to the rest of my body. I have now have bone cancer, which is a nasty one, but I’ve been fighting all the way. Five years ago they gave me four years to live, and so that gives you an idea. I’m fighting it and there’s no telling what can happen. All this time I have had this terminal cancer, but I have defied it because the music kept me fighting.”
Lee Kerslake was born in Winton, Bournemouth, Dorset, England. He began playing drums at the age of 11. He had been touring and recording with The Gods (3 albums), Toe Fat (1 album) and Head Machine (1 album) before joining Uriah Heep in 1971. He made nine studio albums (including Demons and Wizards, Wonderworld, High and Mighty) and a live recording (Uriah Heep Live) with the band in its heyday. He left in 1978.
Two years later, Kerslake formed a band called Blizzard of Ozz featuring Ozzy Osbourne on vocals, Randy Rhoads on guitar and Bob Daisley on bass guitar. The group soon became an Ozzy Osbourne solo project. Kerslake’s work can be heard on the albums Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of A Madman. After a joint lawsuit filed by Kerslake and Daisley against Osbourne and his wife/manager Sharon, seeking royalties and songwriting credits for their contributions to the two albums, drum and bass tracks from the 2002 reissues of both records were re-recorded by bassist Robert Trujillo and drummer Mike Bordin. Fan objection helped restore the original bass and drum performances when the albums were reissued in 2011. Kerslake finally received the platinum album certifications for the Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman albums months before his death.
In the early 1980s, Kerslake returned to Uriah Heep and remained with the band until 2007. He also collaborated with the likes of Ken Hensley, David Byron, and super group Living Loud (featuring Daisley, guitarist Steve Morse, keyboardist Don Airey and singer Jimmy Barnes).
Lee Kerslake was 73.
