The best guitarist Ozzy Osbourne ever played with
There are many astounding aspects of Ozzy Osbourne’s career. Whether this be his status as a founding father of metal with Black Sabbath or the many instances of pure hellraising, the ‘Prince of Darkness’ continues to shock listeners with tales so remarkable that they obscure the line with fiction and remain examples of the pinnacle of rock mythology.
While much of the intrigue surrounding Osbourne concerns his hard-living existence and seeming indestructibility in the face of Satan’s many attempts to drag him into the underworld, one aspect of his career often gets overlooked in light of such fascination: in his time, Osbourne has played with a collection of fine axemen.
Whether it be Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde or even the late Randy Rhoads, one of Osbourne’s greatest triumphs and a key to his longevity is that in his solo career, he has enlisted the fretboard nouse of an array of notable players. Most famously, his short-lived collaboration with Rhoads – who died tragically at 25 in a 1983 plane crash when touring with Osbourne – kickstarted his floundering career.
The founder of neoclassical metal, who instilled sheer technical proficiency and intelligence into the form, Rhoads worked with the Sabbath legend on his first duo of solo albums, 1980’s Blizzard of Ozz and the following year’s Diary of a Madman. Accordingly, Osbourne has confidently named the late Californian his favourite axeman of his solo career and credited him with making him enjoy his work again.
Rhoads might have been incredibly young, but his musical aptitude was clear from the get-go. He served as a confidence booster for Osbourne as he listened to his opinion on compositions, worked with him to elevate his game, and ultimately played a crucial role in him reasserting his place in the rock world.
Despite praising Rhoads for his creative majesty and lamenting his tragic end, for Osbourne, Black Sabbath’s in-house innovator, Tony Iommi, remains the best guitarist he has ever worked with. While he might have left the band acrimoniously under a cloud of drink and drugs in 1979 after a few years of the quartet nearing the brink, Osbourne ultimately returned, with it clear throughout their oscillating time without him that he was vital to their product.
Osbourne knew that despite their differences, the bond between the original lineup was something special that could not be replicated elsewhere. When formed in 1968, the four lads from Birmingham had the correct connection and talent to create history. Each of them brought something vital to the fold, with arguably the most crucial being Iommi, whose sludgy, de-tuned riffs and atmospheric style led their anti-hippie charge and composed the blueprint for metal playing.
In a 2024 interview on his The Madhouse Chronicles podcast, Osbourne categorically explained why Iommi is the best axeman he’s ever worked with. This opinion was made clear to him when playing Sabbath songs with other guitarists who weren’t his old friend. He said: “That’s the thing about a band like Black Sabbath: we came from the streets and we knew our stuff. Tony Iommi was, and is, the best fucking guitar player I’ve ever played with.”
“I’ve played (Sabbath songs) ‘Paranoid’, ‘Children Of The Grave’ and ‘War Pigs’ (with other guitarists). They do the notes, but it’s not the same! (Although American players) play too fast, Tony Iommi, for whatever reason, is fucking great,” Osbourne concluded.
