"Below is the text of an email I received from Bill Ward regarding the recent anniversary of the death of Cozy Powell..."
"Hi Everyone,
Thanks, Joe, for reminding us it's been ten years since Cozy died. I think about him from time to time. I've always been grateful that our last phone conversation ended on a high note. I felt we were both sincere with each other, sharing mutual respect when touching on our individual histories in Hard Rock/Metal.
Over the years, death has sometimes come quickly to old friends, and I've felt the pain and dilemma of not returning a phone call as I would have liked to, but didn't; not being able to say a proper good-bye in life; being upset, or undone, or unresolved from the last conversation, then feeling the loss of that end. With Cozy, I felt we had the perfect ending conversation. We talked from the heart. In hindsight, our conversation seems gift-like, fitting perfectly into the great order of things. Cozy died about ten days after he and I spoke, maybe sooner, I'm not sure.
OK. Drum students - listen to this man. Check out the band RAINBOW. Listen to 'Stargazer'. Cozy is a master. Listen to the top of the song - that's Cozy Powell playing. Discover this giant of rock drumming. He lives forever on records and in our hearts.
I always wonder what Dehumanizer would have sounded like with Cozy. You can get an idea from the Dehumanizer demos bootleg. His playing on some of the Tony Martin Sabbath stuff is cool and of course Rainbow Rising kicks ass.