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On April 5th, 1998 : Cozy Powell dies
at the age of 50.
Drummer Cozy (Collin) Powell died in
a car accident near Bristol, England on April 5th, 1998.
It would appear that Cozy was
alone in his Saab 9000 when he lost control on the M4 motorway,
and crashed into the center divider traveling well in excess of
90 mph, between junctions 18 and 19. He died of his injuries in
the hospital. It had been said that weather played a part in this,
but that has yet to be confirmed.
 The prolific Powell ,50, was
touted as one of Britain's best players after stints with such
greats as Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Jeff Beck, Geneva, The Who's
Roger Daltrey, Gary Moore, Queen's Brian May, Whitesnake, Michael
Schenker, Peter Green, the ELP spinoff Emerson, Lake and Powell
and his own Cozy Powell's Hammer among many others.
Just a few weeks previously,
Powell had been forced to cancel a Japanese tour with Yngwie Malmsteen
because of a minor motorcycle accident that led to a foot injury.
Powell had achieved notoriety
as a solo performer as well as a band player. Polydor in England
recently released the "Best of Cozy Powell" which included
tracks from his three solo albums. Most recently, Powell had been
in discussions reguarding a reunion of Rainbow with former bandmates
Ronnie James Dio and Ritchie Blackmore. He recorded four albums
with that band. That project is now on hold.
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