John Purdell

Who was John Purdell?

John Purdell was a musician and record producer who is credited on such albums as the 1991 Ozzy Osbourne's heavy metal No More Tears and Dream Theater's Awake. He was born in San Diego and raised in Los Angeles. His father John Purdell and mother Arrie Purdell were both captains in the Salvation Army. He graduated from Verdugo Hills High School, in Tujunga, California in 1977.

Aside from being the producer of a number of acclaimed albums from such artists as Ozzy Osbourne, Abandon Shame, Poison, L.A. Guns, Dream Theater, KIX, Alice Cooper, and Cinderella, and Demolition Pit, he toured with Quiet Riot, the Lou Gramm Band and Foreigner as keyboardist. Purdell, who was splitting his time between the studio and the road at the time of his death, produced Ozzy Osbourne's best-selling No More Tears album, where John co-wrote the title song, and he also penned the lyrics to three songs on Osbourne's Ozzmosis CD.