Craig Gruber obit

Rainbow bassist Craig Gruber dead at 63

 

He was not on the list.

Original Rainbow bass player Craig Gruber has died of cancer at the age of 63.

Gruber passed away in Florida, USA, on Tuesday while under the care of members of the Faith Tabernacle Church, who tell TeamRock they had been looking after him for the last six months of his life. He had been battling prostate cancer for some time.

Senior Pastor at the church, Steve Anderson, says: “Our friend and brother in Christ, Craig Gruber is now with Jesus. He passed away about 3.20pm. Thank you all for your prayers of faith.”

Gruber played on Rainbow’s first album Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow and was also a member of Elf alongside Ronnie James Dio. He later worked with Dio on the Black Sabbath album Heaven And Hell after Geezer Butler opted not to continue with the band following Ozzy Osbourne’s departure.

But Gruber’s involvement with Sabbath came to an end before the record was made as Butler had a change of heart. Gruber later toured with Gary Moore in the 1980s and formed the band Bible Black with former Rainbow drummer Gary Driscoll.

He is best known as the original bassist in Rainbow. He also played in Elf, consisting of vocalist Ronnie James Dio, keyboardist Mickey Lee Soule, drummer Gary Driscoll, and guitarist David Feinstein.

Elf released three albums before they joined Ritchie Blackmore in his newly formed band Rainbow in mid-1975. Gruber played on Rainbow's first album, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. Soon after the album was released, Blackmore fired everyone except Dio. Gruber was also in the early recording sessions on Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell album, co-writing "Die Young," until Geezer Butler heard Dio, and returned to the band.

Gruber played live with Gary Moore on his supporting tour for his album Victims of the Future, and featured on Moore's 1984 live album We Want Moore! In 1980 he formed Bible Black with former Elf and Rainbow drummer Gary Driscoll. The band produced two albums before Driscoll's murder in 1987. Gruber had also been working on an Elf reunion, even though such a prospect seemed unlikely given the deaths of Driscoll and frontman Ronnie James Dio; both of whom had been members of the band from foundation until dissolution.

Early in 2010 Gruber formed "ED3N"- a metal band in the classic rock genre. The band featured vocalist Jeff Fenholt and guitarist David Shankle, of DSG and formerly Manowar.

Discography

With Elf

Carolina County Ball (1974)

Trying to Burn the Sun (1975)

With Rainbow

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (1975)

With Ozz

No Prisoners (1980)

With Bible Black

Bible Black (1981)

Ground Zero (1983)

With Gary Moore

We Want Moore! (1984)

Blinder (Ca. 1984)

With The Rods

Heavier Than Thou (1986)