“Ozzy told me about this young guitar player in LA who worked at a music school. I envisioned an older bloke with slippers, a cardigan and glasses”: Ozzy Osbourne bassist Bob Daisley on taking a chance on Randy Rhoads – despite label pushback

Bob Daisley’s bass playing has left a significant mark on rock and metal history, with bands like Rainbow, Uriah Heep, Gary Moore, and Chicken Shack all benefiting from his low-end mastery. However, it’s perhaps his work with Ozzy Osbourne – after the Prince of Darkness was fired from Black Sabbath – that he’s best known for.

In an upcoming career-spanning interview with Guitar World, Daisley reflects on this pivotal phase in his life, which also included meeting and playing with a young guitarist who would later become the Randy Rhoads.

“It was just me and Ozzy to start the band. Ozzy told me about this young guitar player in LA who was a teacher and worked at a music school. I sort of envisioned an older bloke with slippers, a cardigan, and glasses, but Ozzy said, ‘No, his name is Randy Rhoads.’ I said, ‘Okay, well, let’s get him over,’” he recalls.

The head of Osbourne’s label, Jet Records, wasn’t particularly keen on recruiting Rhoads, stating that he was too young. However, Daisley was determined to take a chance on the guitarist and have him as part of the band.

“If you look at it that way, if I hadn’t gone along with getting the band going and said that, Randy wouldn’t have been brought over. It was because I said ‘no’ to the other two guys.”

After some back-and-forth with the label, Osbourne, Rhoads, and Daisley finally met at Jet Records toward the end of ’79 – a meeting that would forever change all three of their careers.

“We all caught the train up to Ozzy’s place in Stratford and played for the first time together,” Daisley recalls.

“I remember that after we finished, after maybe 20 minutes or half an hour, Randy and I looked at each other at the same time and more or less said the same thing: ‘I like the way you play.’ I knew right away that this would work and that this was good.”

Osbourne was recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and took the opportunity to credit Rhoads for the success of his solo career.

Guitar World‘s full interview with Bob Daisley will be published next month.