how ozzy bounced back

when ozzy osbourne got kicked out of black sabbath at the end of the 70s,

little did he know but it would be the best thing to happen to him

and it would revolutionize heavy metal.

but at the time, it felt awful.

he was drunker than ever. he had hit rock bottom. and he thought it was doomsday for him.

his first bit of luck was auditioning Quiet Riot’s Randy Rhoads in LA the day before ozzy was to fly back to the UK

as the guitarist was warming up, an extremely drunk ozzy, who had played for years with guitar god Tony Iommi, was blown away and hired him within minutes. “He played this fucking solo and I’m like, am I that fucking stoned or am I hallucinating or what the fuck is this?!”

Rhoads, who didn’t even want to go to the audition because he never thought he’d get the gig, admitted that he didn’t really rock out… all he had done was a few scales and warmup solos.

but still Ozzy was sad. for a decade he and Sabbath pioneered what would be called metal. not too shabby. but he felt shabby. he went on a three month coke binge.

when he assembled the rest of the band, the first tune they recorded was “Goodbye to Romance,” a melancholy song about missing his old friends. as great as it was, the record label wasn’t thrilled about releasing a gloomy, borderline ballad to kick off The Prince of Darkness’ solo career.

no worries, Rhoads had an amazing riff that would become “Crazy Train,” one of the greatest rock songs of all time, one that gets played in sports arenas everywhere for various reasons.

and more importantly, a song that would have never have come from Black Sabbath.

it was fresh, it was wild, and the solo is breathtaking.

exactly how every new beginning should be.

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