KISS icon Gene Simmons has reported on the death of Ozzy Osbourne drummer Lee Kerslake, who just died at 73 years old.
Simmons said, “Sad to report Lee Kerslake has passed. A kind soul. Heep toured with us in the 70s. Lee always had a cheery ‘Hello’ greeting. He will be missed!”
Kerslake was suffering from cancer, with a Uriah Heep bandmate confirming that he had lost his battle with prostate cancer at 3:30AM today. Kerslake toured with Ozzy in 1980 and 1981, appearing on Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman. Before he died, Kerslake’s wish was for Osbourne to send him his Platinum records for the two albums, and fortunately he received the records last year before his death.
Emerald Sabbath wrote, “LEE KERSLAKE -RIP Just heard the sad news about former Ozzy-uriah heep drummer passing away–One best drummers in rock. Rip you will never be forgotten.”
Ian Danter said, “R.I.P Lee Kerslake. Every rock drummer will have learned his intro to ‘Over The Mountain’ as part of their kit education. Very sad news.”
Ian Scotto added, “RIP Lee Kerslake. And make sure you’re blasting the ORIGINAL recordings of Ozzy’s stuff in his memory. Not the versions that Sharon Osbourne had studio musicians re-record his parts on.”
