Ozzy Osbourne first joined the band that would later become Black Sabbath by putting an ad out in the paper that read, “OZZY ZIG Needs Gig — has own PA.” Consequently, when the band kicked him out in 1979, Osbourne was in uncharted territory. He was not only dealing with the shock of leaving his band of over ten years.
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He was also facing the very pressing reality that, this time, Osbourne was going to have to recruit the band himself instead of the band recruiting him. The Prince of Darkness had to hold auditions like the rest of us, and as he recalled during a 1990 conversation with Guitar World, the process was even weirder than he thought it might be.
Ozzy Osbourne Auditioned Countless Players As A Frontman
Being a frontman has its perks, i.e., being in the spotlight at the front of the band. But it also comes with notable burdens and responsibilities, like, well, creating the band. As a solo artist, Ozzy Osbourne shouldered the difficult task of auditioning countless musicians for various roles in the band, whether it was a guitarist, keyboardist, bassist, or drummer. He screened upwards of 50 players, which was about as exhausting as it was unpredictably weird.
“Some of them were hilarious,” Osbourne recalled. “I asked one guy to play something in a specific key. He said, ‘I think it would be better in another key.’ I said, ‘No, it wouldn’t. Just play it in the key it was written in.’ He protested again, and I just thought, ‘What the hell am I doing here? I’m jet-lagged to the max, arguing with some idiot guitar player.’ Then there were all these Eddie Van Halen clones on steroids. They played like Van Halen while standing on their heads and hopping on one leg. One guy even played like Eddie while eating a f***ing sword.”
Other bizarre encounters included “one guy, [who] did a break dance and spun around on his back on the floor while playing wild guitar licks” and “people [who] looked like they should’ve been in a sideshow at the circus. Besides being a great guitarist, you’ve got to look the part. You’ve got to be able to attract people. I mean, there’s always cosmetic surgery, I suppose.”
The Guitarist That Seemed To Be A Match Made In Heaven
Ozzy Osbourne worked with numerous guitarists over his decades-long career, including Randy Rhoads, Bernie Tormé, Brad Gillis, Jake E. Lee, Joe Holmes, Gus G, and, at the time of Osbourne’s death in 2025, he was working with Zakk Wylde. But out of all of these talented and prolific musicians, the one who seemed to have the best collaborative relationship with Osbourne was the one who tragically died in a plane crash at only 25 years old: Randy Rhoads.
“I had almost given up [auditioning people] when somebody told Sharon [Osbourne] about this great guitar player in town named Randy Rhoads,” Osbourne recalled. “He was so frail, tiny, and effeminate that I thought, ‘Oh no, oh hell.’ But out of politeness, I invited him to play the next day. Unfortunately, when he turned up, I was stoned out of my mind. Some guy woke me up and said, ‘He’s here!’ I looked up, and Randy started playing from this tiny amp. Even in my semi-consciousness, he blew my mind.”
Osbourne told Rhoads right then that he had the gig and to come back the next day, which Osbourne thought he had dreamed. Someone had to tell him that he had, in fact, hired Rhoads. Luckily, even in his semi-conscious, drugged stupor, he made the right choice. Rhoads played on Osbourne’s solo debut, Blizzard of Ozz, the Mr. Crowley Live EP, and Diary of a Madman before a fiery plane crash took his life on March 19, 1982.
Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns
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