Ozzy Osbourne pens emotional tribute after passing of bandmate
Veteran hard rock guitarist Bernie Tormé has died at the age of 66 after suffering “pots-flu complications.”
The Irish musician passed away peacefully in his sleep on March 17, a statement from the family has 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.”
Tormé played with Ozzy Osbourne, Deep Purple singer Ian Gillian as well as his own solo bands.
The sudden death comes a little more than a month since the guitarist was admitted to hospital following a virulent pneumonia in both lungs.
Bernie Torme, 1990.
Tormé worked for many years with Gillian and on his own solo projects, although he is most known for his brief stint in Osbourne’s band in 1982 immediately after Randy Rhoads died in a tragic plane crash.
The musician completed a tour in support of the Shadowland album, The Final Fling in December before being admitted to hospital.
Osbourne took to social media to publicly mourn the life of the former guitarist.
“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,” he tweeted this morning.
“I send my sincere condolences to his family, friends and fans. Rest in Peace Bernie.”
His latest studio album Shadowland was released in November of last year, although his family posted to social media claiming late payments are due to the artist.
“PledgeMusic owe Bernie Tormé almost £16,000 which was due last December on completion of his recent ‘Shadowland’ Pledgemusic campaign,” the statement read.
Another tweet from Tormé’s account read: “Bernie has paid 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.”
Sharon Osbourne also took to social media to share her condolences.
“I cannot believe that Bernie Tormé has passed. Bernie helped out Ozzy and I at a time of great need and we will never ever forget that,” she wrote.
“Love and condolences to his family.”