Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads ‘I Don’t Know’ live in Rochester, 1981
It’s hard to imagine now, but in the summer of 1980 Ozzy Osbourne seemed like a washed-up loser. Black Sabbath (which fired him the previous year) had just released their masterpiece Heaven and Hell with Ronnie James Dio at the helm. It was better than anything Osbourne had done with the band in years, and Ozzy seemed to have gone missing. Few people knew that he had teamed up with former Quiet Riot guitarist Randy Rhoads and they were about the unleash Blizzard of Oz on the metal community. To this day, fans argue about whether or not Ozzy’s 1980 LP is better than Sabbath’s – but over the rest of the decade Sabbath shed singer after singer as they shrunk into oblivion. Meanwhile, Ozzy remained a superstar. His career even survived the tragic 1982 death of Rhoads in a freak plane accident. The two LPs Osbourne made with Rhoads – Blizzard of Oz and Diary of a Madman – are being re-released on May 31st with gobs of bonus material. Check out this live performance of Osbourne and Rhoads performing “I Don’t Know” in Rochester, New York in 1981 that is included with the set.