Bernie Tormé  Bernie Tormé (born Bernard Joseph Tormey; 18 March 1952 – 17 March 2019) was an Irish rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, record label and recording studio owner. Tormé is best known for his work with Gillan, as well as his brief stints with Ozzy Osbourne's backing band and Atomic Rooster. The Ranelagh-born Tormé was inspired by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Rory Gallagher, and Gary Moore. He formed his first band at a young age. His first paid performance came when Don Harris, a 14-year-old drummer he played alongside when he was 17, secured a gig at the local Girl Guides' dance in Kilmainham in Dublin. Tormé then played in Dublin band The Urge in the early 1970s before relocating to London in 1974, where he initially played with heavy rockers Scrapyard, whose bass player, John McCoy would later be re-united with Tormé in Gillan. Inspired by England's burgeoning mid-1970s punk rock scene, Tormé formed the Bernie Tormé Band in 1976. With this group, Tormé toured with successful groups of that period such as The Boomtown Rats and Billy Idol's Generation X, among many others. Tormé later revealed that his band secured the supporting slot with the Boomtown Rats by agreeing to go around London putting up posters advertising the tour. In 1977 the band were asked to contribute two tracks to the "Live at the Vortex" album, "Streetfighter" and "Living for Kicks". This led to them being signed to the Jet Records label, who "...paid us forty quid a week each for the next 18 months... Apart from that they just sat on us pretty much, they were more into ELO." Frustrated by a lack of commercial success, Tormé accepted the invitation of former Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan in 1979 to join his band Gillan. Over the next four years, Gillan enjoyed three Top Ten UK albums ("Mr. Universe", "Glory Road", and "Future Shock"), in addition to extensive worldwide tours of Europe, Japan, and the United States. In 1981 Tormé left Gillan, citing frustration over a lack of money despite the success the band was seeing. He was replaced by guitarist Janick Gers. He played as a live session man for Atomic Rooster and was hired in March 1982 by Jet Records to replace the recently deceased Randy Rhoads in Ozzy Osbourne's band.