(CelebrityAccess) Bernie Torme, 66, former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan, died Sunday, according to a statement from his family.
“Bernie Tormé passed away peacefully on the 17th March 17, 2019, one day short of his 67th birthday, surrounded by his family,” the statement said. “He had been on life support for the past four weeks at a London hospital following post-flu complications. Bernie will be remembered for dedicating his life to his music for five decades. He will be sorely missed.”
Torme’s Twitter account said last month that he was in intensive care with virulent pneumonia and also that he owed nearly £16,000 to PledgeMusic, “which was due last December on completion of his recent ‘Shadowland’ Pledgemusic campaign.” A subsequent post noted that Torme had “paid for all for all recordings, merchandise, CDs and all postage costs to honour his fans’ pledges out of his own pocket. He has as yet been unable to pay his musicians, drummer Mik Gaffney and bass player Simon Morton for their work on the album.”
Torme was best known for his short stint with Osbourne in 1982 immediately after Randy Rhoads. He was only with Osbourne for a few weeks but Osbourne credited Torme with the inspiration to keep playing.
“What a sad day. We’ve lost another great musician. Bernie was a gentle soul with a heart of gold. He will be dearly missed,” Osbourne said. “I send my sincere condolences to his family, friends and fans. Rest in Peace Bernie.”
h/t Fox News
