I just found out that drummer Lee Kerslake passed away September 19th at age 73. He was the drummer of Uriah Heep during vocalist David Byron era up to 1978. He played on their biggest albums Demons & Wizards, Magician's Birthday and Sweet Freedom and the Live 1973. He later joined Ozzy Osbourne's band and played on Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman.
After the first two Ozzy albums problems surfaced with Ozzy's new manager future wife Sharon, Lee and bassist Bob Daisley both left and later rejoined Uriah Heep. Lee played on 17 Uriah Heep albums in total until he was forced to retire due to ill health in 2007. When Sharon took over management, it turned out that she wasn’t thinking of a full-fledged band but hired musicians. Lee and bassist Bob Daisley, who both composed a majority of the singer’s first two albums filed suit against Ozzy in 1998. In response, Osbourne removed their performances from the 2002 reissues of the albums and had them re-recorded.
The lawsuit was later dismissed in 2003. He revealed in 2018 that he had been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer and told Osbourne that his final wish was to receive the platinum certifications for “Blizzard of Ozz” and “Diary of a Madman,” which Osbourne granted. His final performance was on Dec. 14, 2018, when he joined Uriah Heep onstage in London.
Because of his deteriorating health, Lee drank to excess and grew to an astonishing size which forced his retirement in 2007 from Uriah Heep. Here is Lee with his two Platinum albums from the two Ozzy Osbourne releases that he finally won in a settlement with Ozzy.
Here is Lee at his prime in 1972 live with Uriah Heep.