Drummer Lee Kerslake’s bucket list wish granted with platinum certifications for first 2 Ozzy albums
Drummer Lee Kerslake’s bucket list wish granted with platinum certifications for first 2 Ozzy albums
During an interview with Jimmy Kay of Canada’s The Metal Voice last month, former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Lee Kerslake revealed that he was dying from cancer with only about eight months to live and that he had requested for the platinum album certifications for the Blizzard of Ozz (1980) and Diary of Madman (1981) albums that he played drums on.
In terms of his fight with cancer, Kerslake advised (as transcribed by The Metal Voice): “It’s prostate cancer but it’s moved to rest of my body. I now have bone cancer which is nasty one, so the doctor gave me about eight months to live. But I’ve been fighting all the way. Five years ago, they gave me four years to live and so that gives you an idea. Not only have I got bone cancer, I’ve got psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, and two heart murmurs. As I said to you, I’m fighting it and there’s no telling what can happen and they might have a new drug come out and I’ll experiment with it if it keeps me alive. I survived this long and all this time. I have had this terminal cancer but I have defied it because the music kept me fighting.”
On whether he’s made peace with the whole Sharon and Ozzy litigation and fights over the years, Kerslake indicated: “Yes I have made peace. It’s all forgotten and forgiven. I’ve written to Sharon and Ozzy recently — a personal letter basically asking them to kindly send me a platinum album certifications for Blizzard of Ozz and/or Diary of a Madman to hang on my wall before I die. It’s on my bucket list. I really wrote a nice letter to them and I hope they will come to terms with it and say ‘Yes’. I went belly-up bankrupt when I lost the case to Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne in the courts. It cost me hundreds of thousands and I had to sell the house and then started to get ill. I never managed to get back up but a platinum certification on my wall for these albums would be fantastic and it would say I help[ed] create those albums.”
It appears that Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne responded positively to Kerslake‘s request as the following message was posted on Ozzy’s Facebook page less than an hour ago with the above photo:
“I’m so glad that Lee Kerslake is enjoying his Blizzard and Diary platinum albums. I hope you feel better.
Love, Ozzy“