OZZY OSBOURNE: It Took Me A Very Long Time To Get Over RANDY RHOADS' Death

June 16, 2011

Rob Fitzpatrick of U.K.'s Guardian.co.uk recently conducted an interview with legendary heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

On BLACK SABBATH seemingly reaching the end of the road in 1979:

"We never knew what was happening from one day to the next. We tried to manage ourselves for a while but we were always in the fucking bar. We were sick of each other, too you don't even want to be around your wife all the time and you married her and none of us wanted to drag this black magic shit around forever so we tried to get a bit modern. But you should stick to what you know best."

On hearing about guitarist Randy Rhoads through Dana Strum of the band SLAUGHTER:

"[Dana] would go on and on about this guy [Randy] like he was fucking Jesus. I was smoking dope and getting tanked and fucked up on powders and I just wanted to go home, but he said I had to see this guy. So Randy came in, five foot fucking two and so skinny, I thought he was a fairy. When he played my brain went, 'Either this is the greatest gear ever or this guy really is the best guitarist in the world.'"

On Randy Rhoads' passing at the age of 25:

"It took me a very long time to get over his death. I'm on a low dose of anti-depressants even now. Randy gave me a purpose, he gave me hope. I was fed up fighting people. I just had the greatest respect for him."

On how his song "Suicide Solution" inspired a 1984 lawsuit that saw Osbourne and CBS Records accused of inciting, via subliminal messages, 19-year-old alcoholic depressive John McCollum to put a handgun to his head and pull the trigger:

"That whole part of the 80s was a crazy fucking time. But it was obvious to me that the first guy who shot himself was a fucking fruit loop. I tried to tell them it takes me all my time to put the lyrics in the right way round."

On his first two solo albums, "Blizzard of Ozz" and "Diary Of A Madman", which were reissued last month as 30th-anniversary expanded editions:

"You know, when I listen to those two records now I hear a real vibe. Rock music is not meant to be perfect. Randy loved hearing his fingers slide up and down the strings. Nowadays everyone irons the fucking air, it's all about technology."

Read the entire interview at Guardian.co.uk.

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