Real name Colin Trevor Flooks, Cozy Powell was the drummer of major bands. Born in Cirencester (Gloucestershire) on December 29, 1947, he was adopted and began playing drums at the age of twelve, forming his first band, The Corals. He borrowed his nickname "Cozy" from jazz drummer Cozy Hole and went on to play in The Sorcerers, renamed Youngblood, before recruiting singer Ace Kefford from The Move, to form the Ace Kefford Band. After appearing behind Tony Joe White at the Isle of Wight Festival, Powell was recruited by the Jeff Beck Group for the albums Rough and Ready (1971) and Jeff Beck Group (1972). After a spell in Bedlam, he signed with the RAK label and scored two solo hits, "Dance with the Devil" (1973) and "The Man in Black" (1974), before joining the Rainbow group from 1975 to 1980. He recorded the solo albums Over the Top (1979) and Tilt (1981), and went on to join the Michael Schenker Group (1980-1982), Whitesnake (1982-1985), Phenomena (1984-1987), Emerson, Lake & Powell (1985-1986), then Blue Murder, Forcefield and Black Sabbath, from 1988 to 1991 and in 1994-1995 after his 3rd solo album The Drums Are Back (1992) and between several collaborations with Brian May. He also played in Tipton, Entwistle & Powell (1994-1997), the Peter Green Splinter Group (1996-1998) and with Yngwie Malmsteen and The Snakes, formed by former Whitesnake members. He died in a car accident on April 5, 1998, aged 50.
