After being fired from Black Sabbath in 1979, Ozzy Osbourne embarked on a solo career that has seen a series of ups and downs over the past three decades. At the time of this show, Osbourne was finding a resurgence in his career with the release of 1983's Bark at the Moon and 1986's The Ultimate Sin. The former record had been co-written with Bob Daisley and featured Don Airey of Rainbow and famed metal drummer Tommy Aldridge, but it was…entire summary
Ozzy Osbourne - vocals
Jake E Lee - guitar, vocals
Phil Soussan - bass, vocals
Don Airey - keyboards
Randy Castillo - drums
After being fired from Black Sabbath in 1979, Ozzy Osbourne embarked on a solo career that has seen a series of ups and downs over the past three decades. At the time of this show, Osbourne was finding a resurgence in his career with the release of 1983's Bark at the Moon and 1986's The Ultimate Sin. The former record had been co-written with Bob Daisley and featured Don Airey of Rainbow and famed metal drummer Tommy Aldridge, but it was on the heels of The Ultimate Sin release that Osbourne took the stage in Kansas City, Missouri, with new drummer Randy Castillo and bassist Phil Soussan.
Unlike most lead singers who go solo in order to distance themselves artistically from the band they had just left, Ozzy remained faithful to the type of music he created with Sabbath: deep, heavy, slow moving rock with lyrical themes centered around Satan, the Occult, the presence of evil in the world, and drug use (just listen to the track here, "Flying High Again").
After a long intro, Osbourne launches into "Bark At The Moon," followed by the controversial "Suicide Solution" (later the basis of a lawsuit against Osbourne after two teenagers committed suicide, allegedly as a result of the song's "subliminal lyrics"). This set list balances lesser known Osbourne songs such as "Never Know Why," "I Don't Know," "Thank God For The Bomb," and "Killer Of Giants," with his bigger radio hits, among them "Mr. Crowley," "Shot In The Dark," and "Crazy Train." He closes with a couple of Sabbath classics: "Iron Man" and "Paranoid."
Osbourne would continue with a number of solo albums and tours before finally reuniting the original Black Sabbath in 1997 for a series of tours and a live CD. Today, he has a media and entertainment empire controlled by wife, Sharon, and his Ozzfest touring festivals have become among the most successful live music tours of all time.
Read more about Black Sabbath in Crawdaddy!:
"The Wit and Wisdom of Ozzy Osbourne"
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