Iron Butterfly drummer Ron Bushy has died at the age of 79 years, it has been confirmed.
The sad news was announced via Facebook by the band, who said in the statement: “Ron Bushy, our beloved legendary drummer of Iron Butterfly, has passed away peacefully, with his wife Nancy by his side, at 12:05 am on August 29th at UCLA Santa Monica Hospital.”
They added: “All three of his daughters were also with him. He was a real fighter. He was born Dec 23, 1941. He will be deeply missed!”
While no official cause of death has been released, TMZ said that Bushy died after battling “some form of cancer” at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.
https://twitter.com/BlackCatsPoppy/status/1432040098154098693
RIP Ron Bushy. He gave us sounds we will never forget. His iconic drum set that he played “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” on – is in the @rockhall of Fame. Play on… @IronButterflyOF https://t.co/cf3Bqk9JMm
— Shannon McCombs (@RadioShannon) August 30, 2021
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Bushy – who joined the group in 1966 after replacing previous drummer Bruce Morse – was the only original Iron Butterfly member to appear on all six of the band’s albums, beginning with 1968’s Heavy through 1975’s Sun and Steel.
He went on to perform with the band throughout various line-up changed for several decades after the height of their success.
Bushy was renowned for his legendary performance on Iron Butterfly’s hit 1968 track ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’ – a 17-minute long, in which the drummer plays an epic 2-3 minute long solo.
The late rocker had discussed the famous track earlier this year in an interview with Vinyl Writer Music.
“After our tour, we went straight into Ultrasonic Studios in Hempstead, L.I. Don Caselle was the engineer,” Bushy explained at the time.
“We set up our equipment and Don says, ‘Guys, why don’t you just start playing and let me get some mic levels.’ We decided, let’s do ‘Vida’…we played the entire song without stopping. To make a long story short, when we finished, he said, ‘Guys, come into the control room.’ We listened to it and were blown away.”
He’s survived by his wife, Nancy, their three daughters and six grandchildren.
For more on this topic, head over to the Classic Rock Observer.
Check out ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’ by Iron Butterfly:
