Cozy Powell biography

Cozy Powell (born Colin Powell) began his musical career in 1965 with the Sorcerers. In the 60s, he was a member of the Ace Kefford Stand, and after Jeff Beck left the Yardbirds, they began to work together. In 1971, Powell formed the band Bedlam, which he eventually left to become a session musician on the RAK label, owned by Mickie Most (one of Peter Grant's pals). There he recorded the single Dance With the Devil, which fans of old rock remember well. This single was very popular in 1973 in England. Later he founded the group Cozy Powell's Hammer, which released 3 albums to the audience, after which it ceased to exist. After that, he joined the Rainbow group. He worked with them for 4 years and recorded 3 studio and 2 live albums, after which he left the group in 1980. He had to constantly sit at the drum kit. He constantly worked in various groups, but did not stay anywhere for a long time.

In 1982, Powell took part in the recording of Robert Plant's album Pictures At Eleven

Cozy Powell has contributed to the projects of such famous musicians and bands as: Donovan, Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Emerson, Lake & Powell, Michael Schenker Group, Glenn Tipton (Judas Priest), Roger Daltrey (The Who), Gary Moore and Jack Bruce.

In 1996, he worked with former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green on tour. Not long before his death, he was treating his leg, which he injured while performing with Yngwie J. Malmsteen.

Cosey recorded a tribute album dedicated to Jimi Hendrix with Brian May (ex-Queen). They then met again when Powell helped record Brian May's solo album. After Powell's death, Brian May dedicated this record to him.

One of England's most respected drummers has died in a car accident. It happened on April 5th not far from Bristol in England. While driving a Saab 9000, he apparently lost control and crashed into a road stop. The musician was taken to the hospital, where he died 4 hours later: He was 50.

A letter from Neil Murray to the webmaster of this page, Joe Siegler, has been posted on Cozy Powell's official page (www.cozypowell.com). The letter states that the cremation of the musician took place on April 18 in Wiltshire, which is located 90 miles west of London. The parting was very simple: the monks sang psalms and prayers. They were accompanied by close friends of the musician Jim Johnson and Frank Aiello. The service ended with the song Let it be. Many bouquets and wreaths were sent with kind words to Cozy from Tony Iommi, Geoff Nicholls, Tony Martin, David Coverdale and many, many others. Many of the musician's friends came to personally say goodbye to Cozy. Brian May, Jeff Beck, Peter Green, Don Airey, Glen Tipton (Judas Priest), Denny Ball (Bedlam), Spike Edney and Jamie Moses (Brian May Band) attended the farewell ceremony along with members of the musician's family and close friends. "While there are no definite ideas about holding any events in memory of him, but I am sure that after people recover from the shock of Cozy's death, they will definitely be organized," Neil Murray wrote in his letter.

As one would expect, Cozy's death couldn't leave his friends and musicians with whom he worked indifferent. Here are just a few of the sayings:

“With Cozy Powell gone, the music world lost a legend and I lost a friend. He was an excellent drummer and it is obvious to those who have heard him at least once. We were lucky to get to know his restless spirit and thirst for life. And we will remember him that way. He may not be with us, but his place in our hearts will always belong to him.”
Ronnie James Dio, April 7, 1998

I am deeply saddened by the death of Cozy Powell, who was my friend, partner and mentor. His spirit will always live in the hearts of the fans he managed to touch during his lifetime, and his fantastic music will forever remain with us.
Yngwie J. Malmsteen

We learned of Cozy Powell's death on the morning of April 6th. We sincerely sympathize with his family, friends and fans. The news of his death shocked us greatly. He will stay with us forever: we greatly appreciated his friendship, his music is immortal.
Ritchie Blackmore

The world has lost a great man. Cozy Powell was a very strong man during his lifetime. People like him are very rare to find. Despite the fact that we had not seen each other for several years, we remained friends.
The first time I saw him was in Munich at Musicland Studios, where he was just finishing work on Rainbow Rising. I played him some of my solo album Elements and he enthusiastically approved of my stuff and I mentioned him as one of the people who helped me with the album. The last time I saw him was during one of our rehearsals before our tour with Purpendicular in England. He came by to say hi and wish us good luck on our upcoming tour.
I was devastated by the news of his death.
When I played Rainbow, we shared jokes and funny stories with each other, so there were a lot of stories about him. He did nothing half-heartedly and the title of one of his albums is a vivid confirmation of this: "Over The Top".
He was a wonderful man.
My sincere condolences to his loved ones, his family and those who loved him. We mourn him, but they suffer much more than we do: Rest in peace, Cozy Powell.
Roger Glover

Matt Sorum - Cozy Powell