In a revealing new interview, legendary bassist Bob Daisley has shared the fascinating, behind-the-scenes story of how the original Ozzy Osbourne solo band was formed, revealing that a single, brutally honest comment he made in 1979 directly paved the way for the recruitment of iconic guitarist Randy Rhoads.
Speaking with Johnny Beane, Daisley recounted the pivotal moment when he first met with Ozzy at his house to discuss the new project. He arrived to find that Osbourne had already assembled a lineup. “Ozzy had another drummer and another guitarist at his house,” Daisley recalled (as transcribed by Ultimate Guitar). “He was talking about that was going to be the band.”
However, Daisley, fresh from his tenure with Ritchie Blackmore‘s Rainbow, was unconvinced that the musicians had what it took to launch Ozzy‘s crucial post-Black Sabbath career. He delivered a frank and career-altering assessment to the singer.
“I said to him,’They’re nice guys and they’re decent players, but I don’t think they’re world class,'” Daisley said.
Osbourne‘s reaction was swift and decisive, showing an immediate trust in his new collaborator’s judgment. “And he sort of- he got rid of them on the spot then,” Daisley revealed.
In the creative vacuum left by the fired musicians, Ozzy immediately mentioned a young, prodigious guitarist he had recently seen back in Los Angeles. “And that was when he told me that he’d seen this guitarist already in L.A. called Randy Rhoads, and described him and told me that he was a music teacher,” Daisley remembered. His response was simple and immediate: “Well, let’s get him over.”
The idea, however, initially met with resistance from management. David Arden, Sharon Osbourne‘s brother, was against bringing over an unknown American player. “He said, ‘No, he’s unknown. He’s young, he’s not English. We want to keep it based in the UK. We want known people,'” Daisley explained.
“But eventually we talked David into flying Randy over,” he continued. “So then it was the three of us, and that’s when we started auditioning drummers and Lee [Kerslake] was the final piece of the puzzle.”
