The legendary Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward spoke on his show “LA Radio Sessions” about his late friend Cozy Powell, who was part of Black Sabbath from 1988 to 1991 and again from 1994 to 1995. Powell also made history in Rock through his contributions to artists such as Jeff Beck, Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Gary Moore, Graham Bonnet, Brian May, Whitesnake, and Emerson, Lake & Powell. The musician tragically died in 1998 at the age of 50 following a car accident.
Bill Ward recalls his late friend Cozy Powell
“Well, Cozy Powell was somebody that I first met when we were still kids. Great drummer. Tight. Well, first of all, I was attracted to his personality. He was a nice man — very nice man. My last phone call with Cozy, actually, was about two weeks before he passed away. And I am so glad that I was able to talk to Cozy on really meaningful meaningful topics and (it was a) heartfelt conversation. I hadn’t spoken to him for a while, and then, of course, two weeks later, he passed away, which was heartbreaking, of course.”
“But when we first met, when we were still quite young, I liked his already well-defined historic… I could tell where he’d learnt (how to play). I come from a jazz background, so (Gene) Krupa was my guy. Everybody says it was somebody else, but actually it was Krupa. But that’s okay, what everybody else wants to say; they can say whatever they wanna say. But Cozy was well defined. His chops were — I think his chops were from (Buddy Rich) Big Band and were maybe from Rich. It fitted in so well. It fitted really well into rock. It’s almost like his body and the way that he played was designed for that era. And he had the chops and the licks that fitted into that.”
Ward continued:
“He had a lot of hit records by himself as a single artist, and I don’t know if you know that — where he would do a drum solo, and that would be the record, and they got into the charts. He was always available, always listening. I think he was a drummer’s drummer. It’s so sad — very sad — now when I’m thinking about it. For me, I’m gonna be 78 in two months, so for me, at 78 years old, when I go back and digress and go back into the unbelievable amount of people that I’ve met, known and grew up with.”
“We all went through the same things, it’s an incredible journey, but there’s also a price to pay for the regrets that could have happened. And just the memories alone are often sad as well as brilliant opportunities. It’s a mixed bag. So, yeah, Cozy was an angel. That’s what Cozy Powell was,” Bill Ward said (Transcribed by Blabbermouth).