Martin wrote, “Sad to acknowledge the death of Jimmy Copley, drummer and all round great dude. Jimmy was in the band M3 with me but he played for many named artists …. Including Tony Iommi, and Paul Rodgers ….. He had such an accurate touch with drums that seemed effortless, Sad to hear leukemia took his life. Thoughts are with his family and others that knew him.”

According to University Hospital Bristol, Copley had been diagnosed with leukemia in 2015, and relapsed following a bone marrow transplant. He opted to discontinue chemotherapy.

Copley, who was born in London in 1953, was a session musician who had long played with Jeff Beck. In addition, he had stints with Graham Parker, Tears for Fears, the Pretenders and Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, among many others.

In 2008, Copley released his first solo album Slap My Hand. The album featured performances by a huge array of artists, including Beck. He was known as the master of the open-handed drumming technique, which involves not crossing hands when playing the high hat and snare drum simultaneously.