associated_acts death_place death_date years_active background birth_date instrument genre article_title name
elf , rainbow , bible black ithaca , new york , united states 8 june 1987 1967-1987 non_vocal_instrumentalist 18 april 1946 drums rock , r & b gary driscoll
 gary driscoll
gary driscoll

john gary driscoll -lrb- 18 april 1946 - 8 june 1987 -rrb- was an american r&b style rock drummer who performed in a number of successful bands from the 1960s until his death on june 10 , 1987 .
he first entered the music scene when he joined ronnie dio and the prophets in june 1965 , fronted by ronnie james dio .
the band transformed into the electric elves , the elves , and finally elf in 1969 , releasing a few singles along the way .
they were eventually discovered by deep purple bassist roger glover who went on to produce two of elf 's three studio albums .
elf disbanded in 1975 when gary driscoll , ronnie james dio , micky lee soule -lrb- elf 's keyboardist -rrb- , and craig gruber -lrb- their bassist -rrb- were recruited by deep purple guitarist ritchie blackmore to form the rock band rainbow .
driscoll was dismissed from rainbow shortly after their debut album , entitled `` ritchie blackmore 's rainbow '' , was recorded .
it is speculated that firing gary was simply due to his r&b style of drumming , which did not sit well with blackmore .
driscoll was later replaced with british hard rocker , cozy powell .
after his departure from rainbow , driscoll played in the band dakota -lrb- 1978 -- 1980 , from scranton , pa. formally the jerry kelly band -rrb- , before starting bible black with craig gruber , future blue cheer guitarist duck mcdonald and singer jeff fenholt .
this band released the albums `` ground zero '' and , with a few other musicians , `` thrasher '' , neither of which sold well .
driscoll found a day job , and made a little extra money on the side as a session musician .
driscoll was found dead in a friend 's home in ithaca , new york in june 1987 at the age of 41 .
his brutal murder remains unsolved with no apparent motive , although it is rumored to have been drug related .
the man initially arrested for the crime was acquitted at trial .
there have been leads in the case , and the person of interest has fled the country .
