Lee Kerslake
Hard-driving drummer for Uriah Heep and Ozzy Osbourne
LEE KERSLAKE, who has died aged 73, was the drummer with Uriah Heep when the heavy metal favourites were in their pomp, fusing blockbuster riffs with the virtuosity of prog rock; he also had a spell backing Ozzy Osbourne which ended in acrimony and recriminations.
He was born in Bournemouth on April 16 1947; though his first instrument was the piano, he began playing the drums aged 11 after attending a dinner dance with his parents and seeing Ted Heath’s big band.
In his teens he joined the Gods, a band whose personnel included, or had included, his future Heep bandmate Ken Hensley on keyboards; the guitarist Mick Taylor, later of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and the Rolling Stones; and on bass Greg Lake, later of King Crimson, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer (Kerslake turned Lake down when asked to join the trio he was in the process of forming).
Kerslake recorded three albums with the band and went on to play with Toe Fat, and the National Head Band, then in November 1971 he joined Uriah Heep. Formed in 1969, they had already established themselves as a live force on the heavy metal circuit, though their three albums to date had not unduly troubled the charts.
With Kerslake on board – joining Ken Hensley, David Byron (vocals), Mick Box ( guitar) and Gary Thain (bass) in the band’s classic line-up – they recorded Demons and Wizards (1972), which reached No 20 in the UK album charts and No 23 in the US.
“These guys are good,” enthused Rolling Stone. “The first side of Demons and Wizards is simply odds-on the finest high energy work-out of the year.” Later that year they followed it up with the similarly well-received The Magician’s Birthday. “Uriah Heep used to have an image, now they have personality,” wrote Melody Maker.
Kerslake – nicknamed “the Bear” by his colleagues for his bulk and power – remained with Heep until 1978, when he left after falling out with the band’s management.
Then, following a chance meeting in a hotel lift in Australia, in 1980 he joined forces with Ozzy Osbourne, who had recently been sacked by Black Sabbath, the band he had co-founded. The album Blizzard of Ozz followed in September that year and Diary of a Madman a year later – but by then Kerslake had left to care for his mother, who was ill.
When the latter album was released the drumming was credited to Tommy Aldridge (and Bob Daisley’s bass-playing to Rudy Sarzo).
Kerslake was mystified as to why he had been treated so shabbily. In 2011 he speculated: “The only thing I could ever recall was once Ozzy had asked me to speak to her [Sharon Osbourne, his wife and manager] on his behalf regarding two shows in New York in one night as Ozzy said: ‘I can’t do two shows in one night – not with my voice!’
“He told me to tell her. I did as he said … Because I broke the news to her, she’s hated my guts.”
In 1998 he and Daisley sued Osbourne for royalties and songwriting credits, but lost their case thanks to the statute of limitations. When the two albums were reissued in 2002, the Osbournes had Kerslake’s and Daisley’s contributions re-recorded by other musicians, but thanks to objections from fans, a further re-release, in 2011, saw their parts restored.
Following his spell with Osbourne, Kerslake rejoined Uriah Heep, playing on what amounted to their comeback album, Abominog (1982). He remained until 2007, when he left through ill health.
In 2018 Kerslake announced that he had terminal cancer, and wrote to Ozzy Osbourne, saying that his final wish was to receive the plaques he should have been awarded when the two LPS went platinum. He received the plaques.
Lee Kerslake married Sue, who survives him.
Lee Kerslake born April 16 1947, died September 19 2020