Ozzy Osbourne was a unique musical artist for many reasons, but one was that he had such a successful career with a band (in his case, Black Sabbath) and then nearly equaled that as a solo performer. The trick was making sure each band was tight and the chemistry was great.
Clearly, the original lineup of Sabbath worked tremendously. The group made some of the most iconic singles and albums in the history of heavy metal. They continued after Ozzy was booted from the band, but Black Sabbath was never quite the same. Not really.
After going solo and being managed by his future wife, Sharon, the first band Ozzy played with was immensely good. Bob Daisley played bass, Lee Kerslake was on drums, and the legendary Randy Rhoads played lead guitar. Had the band stayed forever for years, it could have consistently been one of the best in music.
Former Ozzy Osbourne bandmember blames Sharon for breaking up the group
It wasn't, and Daisley blames Sharon for trying to make something better that was already perfect.
On a recent episode of the Talking Guitars podcast with Johnny Beane, Daisley said it was a privilege to play with Ozzy and the rest of the band. The time they did so was far too short, though, as Sharon wanted to fire the drummer and bring in other musicians.
Daisley said, " I think (it was) fated, that the four of us get together and do those [things]. It was no accident, and it was the perfect combination of people and chemistry, and it all worked, that's for sure. I don't think they understood about chemistry and creativity and the vibrations between the four of us. You know, you can't really replace one of those ingredients, and not affect everything, not have the same thing."
It gets complicated. Daisley was an excellent musician, and he knew how to play well with others, of course. But while Sharon Osbourne didn't create music, she did have a keen eye for how it should sound and how to grow a career. Where would Ozzy have been without Sharon, for instance?
Daisley added, "(Sharon said), 'Let's get rid of Lee. Let's get Tommy Aldridge.' And I said, 'Why are you trying to fix something that's not broken?' And it wasn't out of blind loyalty to Lee or anything. I just couldn't agree to something that I thought was wrong, a mistake, and a bad move, so I would never agree to it."
The band might have stayed great. We will never know. Plus, Rhoads died in 1982, and the world was robbed of a true musical great. The band would have been forced to change anyway, sadly.