“Beloved, Legendary” Iron Butterfly Drummer Ron Bushy Dead at 79
Drummer Ron Bushy, the only musician to appear on all of Iron Butterly’s six studio LPs, has died at age 79.
Bushy, “our beloved, legendary drummer,” died Aug. 29 at a Los Angeles hospital, the band said. He had reportedly been battling cancer.
“He was a real fighter. … He will be deeply missed,” the band said.
The current group has no original players left, but was run with membership approved by Bushy, who owned the Iron Butterfly name.
Iron Butterly was best known for the 17-minute title track from their 1968 second LP, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, and Bushy was best known for the two-and-a-half-minute drum solo therein.
“Damn, another friend gone,” Carmine Appice wrote on Facebook.
Iron Butterfly’s founding guitarist Danny Weis offered “peace and healing to (Bushy’s) wife, Nancy, and all of his family.
“We will miss you, brother Ron,” he wrote on Facebook. “RIP.”
In March, Bushy donated the drum set he used from 1969 to 1972 to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
8/29/21
