Lee Kerslake , former drummer for Ozzy Osbourne and Uriah Heep, has died at the age of 73 after a long battle with cancer.
The news was shared by Lee's colleague, Ken Hensley, on social media: "It is with sadness that I share that Lee Kerslake, my friend of 55 years and the best drummer I've ever played with, lost his battle with cancer at 3:30 this morning," he wrote.
“He died peacefully, thank God, but he will be greatly missed,” continued his friend. Another Uriah Heep colleague, Mick Box , also took to social media to mourn the loss: “Lee was one of the kindest men on Planet Earth, as well as being a brother and an incredible drummer, singer and songwriter! He had a passion for life like no other and was much loved by fans and everyone who crossed paths with him.”
In January 2019, Kerslake was inducted into the Hall of Heavy Metal History in Anaheim, California. During the ceremony, he received two platinum records for his work with the Black Sabbath frontman Randy Rhoads era and participated in the singer's first two solo albums.
In December 2018, before receiving the platinum record award, Lee had said in an interview with The Metal Voice that he would have liked to receive the honor for the albums Blizzard of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman before he passed away so that he could feel the recognition for his work, since his name does not appear in the credits of Diary Of A Madman because he was fired before the album's release.
In that same interview, Lee revealed that he had prostate cancer and that it was spreading throughout his body: "Now I have bone cancer, which is horrible, so my doctor gave me about eight months to live," he said, "But I'm fighting. Five years ago he had given me four years to live.".
Kerslake was working on an autobiographical documentary and a new album titled Eleventeen before he passed away.
Rest in peace, Lee Kerslake.