Blizzard of Ozz Tour

The Blizzard of Ozz Tour was the first concert tour by English heavy metal vocalist Ozzy Osbourne as a solo artist, following his departure from Black Sabbath. The tour was in support of Osbourne's debut solo album, Blizzard of Ozz and covered the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada from September 12, 1980 to September 13, 1981.

Overview

Background

Ozzy Osbourne was fired from Black Sabbath on April 27, 1979.^[1][2][3] Randy Rhoads from Quiet Riot was hired in late October 1979. Dana Strum and Frankie Banali could not obtain passports and work visas so they left the band. Former Rainbow bassist Bob Daisley was hired in November 1979. The first song that Ozzy, Rhoads, and Daisley wrote together was "Goodbye to Romance." Rhoads came up with melodies to "Crazy Train," "Suicide Solution," "Dee," "Mr. Crowley," "I Don't Know" and "Revelation Mother Earth." Former-Uriah Heep drummer Lee Kerslake was hired in December 1979.^[1] The band then went to Ridge Farm Studios in Rusper to record the debut album, Blizzard of Ozz, from March 22 to April 19, 1980. Sharon got Ozzy signed to Jet Records through the CEO, her father, Don Arden, so that they could release the album in the United Kingdom.

Europe leg

In August 1980, the band began rehearsing at Shepperton Studios in Shepperton, England for the "Blizzard of Ozz Tour." Don Airey, who had been hired to perform keyboards and synthesizers on "Mr. Crowley," "Goodbye to Romance" and "Revelation Mother Earth", could not tour with Ozzy since he had already signed a contract to tour with Rainbow, so the band hired Lindsay Bridgwater.^[4][5][6] The band performed two secret warm-up gigs billed as "The Law" in September at Norbreck Castle Nightclub in Blackpool on September 3 and at West Runton Pavilion on September 5. The band kicked off its opening night of the tour in front of a sold-out crowd at the Glasgow Apollo on September 12.^[7][8]

The 70s Welsh heavy metal band Budgie would open for Ozzy throughout the 1980 European leg. On September 20, Blizzard of Ozz was released in the United Kingdom and was a success.^[8] "Crazy Train" and "Mr Crowley" were released as singles. "Goodbye to Romance," "I Don't Know" and "Suicide Solution" also received radio airplay. On October 2, the band played at The Gamount Theatre in Southampton where the recordings of "Goodbye to Romance" and "No Bone Movies" would appear on the live Tribute album, released on March 19, 1987. The live recordings of "Mr. Crowley" and "Suicide Solution" would be released on the Mr. Crowley Live EP.

Sharon got Ozzy signed to CBS Records in the United States and Canada through Tony Martell in January 1981. The band regrouped back at Ridge Farm to record Diary of a Madman between February and March 1981. Tensions between Ozzy/Sharon and Daisley/Kerslake over contract issues regarding their names, money, credit, and royalties got worse, which led to Sharon firing Daisley and Kerslake in March 1981.^[9][9][10] In April, Ozzy, Sharon and Rhoads went back to the United States to look for a new drummer and bassist.

North America leg

In March 1981, former-Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers and Gary Moore drummer, Tommy Aldridge, and former-Quiet Riot bassist, Rudy Sarzo, was hired. Blizzard of Ozz was released in the United States and Canada on March 27, 1981 and it became a success. "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" were released as singles and "Goodbye to Romance", "I Don't Know" and "Suicide Solution" received radio airplay. The album eventually went platinum.^[11]

In April, the band began rehearsals for the North America leg at Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California. On April 22, the band kicked off the North America leg of the tour at Towson Arena in Towson, Maryland in front of a sold-out crowd. Throughout the first half of the North American leg of the tour, the band was supported by English heavy metal band Motörhead. Other bands would be added, such as Joe Perry, The Outlaws and Mountain. On April 28, the band went to 31 Studios in Ogden, New York to film a live performance of "I Don't Know", "Suicide Solution", "Mr. Crowley" and "Crazy Train," which were broadcast on the After Hours TV show as live promo-videos.

On May 11, the live recodring of the Cleveland Music Hall performance was broadcast live over the local rock radio station and became as the first 13 tracks on the live Tribute album. On July 4, the band performed as the special guests in front of their biggest crowd at Bill Graham's Day on the Green Festival where they were supported by "415" (the opener) and Loverboy while Pat Travers, Blue Öyster Cult and Heart performed afterwards.

On July 28, the Montreal performance was recorded live and broadcast on the "King Biscuit Flower Hour" radio show. Some of the recordings from this show were also used on the Tribute album. The band went back to England to perform at Vale Park in Burslem, Stoke for the "Heavy Metal Holocaust Festival." The band went back to finish the Blizzard of Ozz Tour in the United States with English hard rock band Def Leppard. The band ended the tour at Peabody Auditorium in Daytona Beach, Florida on September 13, 1981.

Personnel

Setlists

Tour dates

References