(CelebrityAccess) — Lee ‘The Bear’ Kerslake, a drummer who performed with bands such as Ozzy Osbourne and Uriah Heep died on September 19th. He was 73.
Kerslake’s death was announced by his longtime Uriah Heep bandmate Ken Hensley, who, in a post to his social media, wrote: “It’s with the heaviest of hearts that I share with you that Lee Kerslake, my friend of 55 years and the best drummer I ever played with, lost his battle with cancer at 03:30 this morning. He died peacefully, praise The Lord, but he will be terribly missed.
“I know many of you were praying for him not to suffer and I thank you for that and, now that Lee is at peace, our thoughts and prayers should turn to his wife Sue who will need all the support she can get at this time.”
A native of Britain’s south coast, Kerslake began playing drums at the tender age of 11 and landed his first professional gig in 1969 with the English rock band The Gods, alongside Mick Taylor, Brian and John Glascock, and future Uriah Heep member Ken Hensley.
Kerslake recorded three albums with The Gods before he joined Uriah Heep as their first long-term drummer, stepping into the role vacated by Ian Clarke, whose tenure with the band was brief.
He went on to record nine albums with Uriah Heep, including their seminal 1972 album Demons And Wizards before stepping away to form Blizzard of Ozz with Ozzy Osbourne, Dusty Rhoades, and Bob Daisley.
He recorded two albums with Blizzard of Ozz which eventually became Ozzy’s solo project. Kerslake later sued Ozzy over songwriting credits but the suit was dismissed on appeal.
Kerslake rejoined Uriah Heep and remained the band’s drummer until 2007 when he stepped away due to persistent health problems.
In addition to Uriah Heep, Kerslake performed with Living Loud, a rock ‘super group’ featuring bassist Bob Daisley, guitarist Steve Morse and singer Jimmy Barnes and with his own project, the Lee Kerslake Band, and regularly rejoined his Uriah Heep compatriots for performances as Uriah Heep Legends.
In 2018, Kerslake revealed to Consequence of Sound that he was dealing with multiple health issues, including prostate cancer, stating that he had been told by doctors that he had 8 months to live.
He also said he was afflicted by psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and two heart murmurs.
