Entering music history is rarely, if ever, a guarantee of financial freedom. In the case of Lee Kerslake, the late Ozzy Osbourne and Uriah Heep drummer said in a 2018 interview that he was forced to sell his house after unsuccessfully trying to sue Ozzy and Sharon over unpaid royalties.
The drummer was a part of the original Ozzy Osbourne solo lineup, which was originally intended to be a band called Blizzard of Ozz, according to several accounts (including Kerslake’s). As it would turn out, Kerslake would be the first to leave in early 1981, after wrapping up work on “Diary of a Madman” (on which he was not originally credited).
According to bassist Bob Daisley, the Osbournes had been wanting to “get rid” of Kerslake since 1980, which he vehemently opposed, arguing that his opposition to the plans also led to his first firing. Unlike Kerslake, however, Daisley would be invited back several times.
Why Lee Kerslake Was Forced Out of Ozzy’s Band
In a 2018 interview with The Metal Voice, Lee Kerslake reflected on the heavy toll that the fallout and subsequent lawsuits had on his life. In the interview, Kerslake maintained that the had been following a disagreement over royalties (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):
“I mean, the first album was ‘Blizzard of Ozz’, which was the name of the band, but Sharon changed that and turned that around. But anyway, the album started to go crazy in America, absolutely crazy! She and her dad Don, said, ‘You’ve got to go in and do another album because you’re going to be in America one hell of a long time. You’re a monster hit.'”
“We went, ‘Yeah, okay.’ But I said, ‘Well, I want some money up front. We all want money up front to take care of our families, and we want these deals and record deals and that deal.’ Suddenly they went, ‘Hang on. Oh, these are smart guys. They know what they’re doing.'”
“I think what they wanted to do, they wanted to sign us up and own everything, give us about 10%. So that’s why we were told politely to leave.”
Lee Kerslake’s Royalties From ‘Blizzard of Ozz’
Lee Kerslake and Bob Daisley field a lawsuit against the Osbournes over songwriting and royalties on “Blizzard of Ozz” and “Diary of a Madman” in 1998, which infamously led to a reissue of the albums with re-recorded parts by Robert Trujillo and Mike Bordin, while the lawsuit itself eventually got dismissed. Asked whether he received any royalties for the “Blizzard of Ozz” record, Lee Kerslake said:
“No, no, I received nothing from them. I’ve just received the songwriting, which is very little on ‘Blizzard of Ozz’. I never got it for playing or producing, although I was credited for it. But you know how it is.”
How the Lawsuit Left Lee Kerslake Bankrupt
As Lee Kerslake explained further in the interview, losing the legal case had a devastating effect on his bank account, forcing him to sell his house and move back to his home country:
“I went bust. I went belly up, bankrupt when I lost the case to Sharon and Ozzy in the courts. It cost me hundreds of thousands. I lost the case, and then I had to sell the house, and I was starting to get ill. I had to come back here to England, and I never managed to pick it back up.”
“But that’s by the by, I’m sure someday maybe I’ll win the lottery, or there’ll be someone out there that’ll turn and think, ‘Hey, I’ve got so much, I’ll help him out.'”
Lee Kerslake died from cancer in 2020, aged 73. A year before his death (and one year after The Metal Voice interview), Ozzy granted Kerslake’s final wish of receiving the platinum certifications for “Blizzard of Ozz” and “Diary of a Madman,” Loudwire reported at the time.
