The member of the rock band, who battled some form of cancer, died at UCLA Santa Monica Hospital on August 29 with his wife Nancy and three of his daughters by his side.
- Aug 30, 2021
AceShowbiz - Ron Bushy has passed away. Confirming his death was his band Iron Butterfly, who informed that their longtime drummer died peacefully after losing his battle with cancer. He was 79 years old.
On Sunday, August 29, the rock band took to their official Facebook page to announce Ron's passing. "Ron Bushy our beloved legendary drummer of Iron Butterfly has passed away peacefully, with his wife Nancy by his side, at 12:05 am on August 29th at UCLA Santa Monica Hospital," they said in a statement.
"All three of his daughters were also with him," the statement continued to read. "He was a real fighter. He was born on Dec 23, 1941. He will be deeply missed!" The cause of death was not immediately given, but according to TMZ, the rocker passed away after losing his fight with "some form of cancer."
Ron joined Iron Butterfly back in 1966 and was the only member of the band to be featured on all six of their albums. He was best known for his drum solo on the band's 1968 hit "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" from their second studio album.
" 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida' was written as a slow country ballad, about one-and-a-half minutes long," Ron told It's Psychedelic Baby magazine last year about the song's inspiration. "I came home late one night and [Doug Ingle] had been drinking a whole gallon of Red Mountain wine. I asked him what he had done, while he has been playing a slow ballad on his Vox keyboard."
Ron went on, "It was hard to understand him because he was so drunk." The musician then shared, "So I wrote it down on a napkin exactly how it sounded phonetically to me, 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida'. It was supposed to be 'In the Garden of Eden.' "
Ron also performed on the band's third and fourth albums, 1969's "Ball" and 1970's "Metamorphosis", until the band went their separate ways in 1971. He then rejoined the band when they regrouped in 1974, playing on their fifth and sixth albums, "Scorching Beauty" and "Sun and Steel", which were both released in 1975.
Ron is survived by his wife, three daughters and six grandchildren.
