Lee Kerslake, the drummer for Ozzy Osbourne and Uriah Heap has died after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer.

The drummer’s death was reported by Ken Hensley, who was also a fellow former member of Uriah Heep.

“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,” wrote Hensley. “He died peacefully, praise The Lord, but he will be terribly missed.”

He continued, “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.”

While his time playing for Ozzy was relatively short – he was a drummer for the rocker from 1980 to 1981 – it was certainly influential, with Kerslake contributing to iconic albums Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman.

In 2018, Kerslake announced he had been battling cancer and that he had “about eight months to live” at the time. Along with the revelation, the drummer said one of his dying wishes was to receive his platinum records for Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman from Ozzy and Sharon.

Just a month later, Ozzy sent Kerslake his platinum records and shared an image of the drummer holding the framed achievements.

“I’m so glad that Lee Kerslake is enjoying his Blizzard and Diary platinum albums,” Ozzy wrote at the time. “I hope you feel better. Love, Ozzy.”

Upon hearing the news Ozzy paid tribute to former drummer Kerslake over Instagram, writing:

“It’s been 39 years since I’ve seen Lee but he lives for ever on the records he played on for me, Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman. Lee Kerslake RIP.”

The sad news comes amid the 40th anniversary of Blizzard of Ozz, which came out on September 20th, 1980.

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