BIOGRAPHY
Cozy Powell, born Colin Trevor Powell on December 29, 1947 in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England, was an English rock drummer best known for his work with Jeff Beck, Whitesnake, and Black Sabbath. He also appeared on over 66 albums.
Powell started playing the drums in the school orchestra at the age of 12. His spare time was spent playing along to popular recordings of the day. Powell took on the stage name 'Cozy' in tribute to legendary jazz drummer, Cozy Cole.
Over the three decades of his professional music career, Powell worked with the Who’s Who of rock music — long stints with Black Sabbath (1988–1991; 1994–1995), Rainbow (1975-1980), Whitesnake (1982-1985), M.S.G. and the ELP spin-off Emerson, Lake, & Powell. He also worked with the likes of Donovan, Roger Daltrey, Jack Bruce, Jeff Beck, Gary Moore and Brian May.
In the 1960’s, Cozy was a member of the Ace Kefford Stand; in the 70’s he was a session drummer for Mickie Most’s RAK label, which made Cozy a household name with the Dance With the Devil single; and in 1991, he turned up on Comic Relief’s No 1 single, “The Stonk”, with comedians Hale & Pace!
Powell went on to join Brian May on a Jimi Hendrix tribute album, and supported the legendary Peter Green on his comeback tour. Some of his last work included recording sessions with Glenn Tipton (Judas Priest), a new album with Brian May, and two tours with Yngwie Malmsteen.
Cozy Powell died on April 5, 1998 following a car accident while driving his Saab 9000 at 104 mph, while intoxicated and on his cell phone, in bad weather on the M4 motorway near Bristol; he was 50 years old.
