Below, Brad Gillis remembers the day Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne asked him to fill Randy Rhoads’ spot in Ozzy’s band.
What are your memories of first meeting Ozzy?
“Two weeks after the tragic death of Randy, I received an early morning phone call from Sharon and Ozzy asking me to fly to NYC to join the band. I told Ozzy I only knew a few songs but would learn them ASAP. I got my first guitar when I was 8 and learned by ear, and I could emulate Randy’s awesome solos after a bit.”
Did you gel with Ozzy immediately?
“After flying to New York, I had a casual introduction to Ozzy at a large private party in Ozzy’s Helmsley Palace Hotel Presidential Suite. Earlier that night, Ozzy had played Madison Square Garden with Bernie Tormé. Ozzy told me to go grab my guitar.
“I ran down the stairwell to my room – I was too excited to take the elevator – grabbed my 1962 red Strat and ran back up to the suite. He had me follow him up the stairway to the master bedroom to play for him. I sat on the edge of the bed while he sat cross-legged on the floor in front of me.”
Which song did you play?
He opened up the master-bedroom-suite door and yelled down to the crowd, ‘I’ve got a new f***ing guitar player’
“Flying High Again with no amp. He jumped up after I finished the solo and gave me a hug. He cried out, ‘I love you, Bradley – pull me through.’ I told him I was there for him and would do my best to help finish the tour. He opened up the master-bedroom-suite door and yelled down to the crowd, ‘I’ve got a new fucking guitar player.’
“It was crazy and surreal. Me, a 24-year-old newbie about to join the Ozzy Osbourne band! The next day, I was given two live board cassette tapes with Randy, a boombox, and small amp to start learning all the material. I gave them the green light four days later.
“My first show was sold out in Binghamton, New York, April 13, 1982. I had no stage clothes, and they supplied me with a white Ferrari jumpsuit. I later found a black one and switched it out before the show.”
Why do you think Ozzy chose you?
“Pure luck! I was playing a few Ozzy tunes in a San Francisco Bay Area club band called the Alameda All Stars while Night Ranger was shopping a record deal. The word spread that I was interested in possibly joining to help finish the Diary [of a Madman] tour. I never thought I’d even be considered.
“My guitar playing reached the ears of Preston Thrall, who vouched for my playing, and he told his brother Pat Thrall, who then told Tommy Aldridge. Sharon took their word, and I got the call.”
What did Ozzy expect from his guitar players?
“I was never specifically told what to play, but I knew my job was to replicate Randy to the best of my ability. Every show was sold out, and they just needed to get through the tour. I recall screwing up the middle section of Revelation (Mother Earth) during my first show. Before my second show, Sharon came to me and said, ‘Try not to fuck up tonight.’”
What did you bring to Ozzy’s sound?
“When I joined the band, I only had my guitar and played through Randy’s amps and pedalboard. About a week into the tour, I had my Mesa Boogie amps sent out and played through Marshall cabs. Randy’s style was different from mine, so I had to learn his licks. I slowly brought in slight whammy bar inflections into the solos.”
Learning Randy’s parts was a challenge. I’d sit in my hotel room all day and practice to the live tapes then head to the show and watch Bernie and the band from the soundboard
You probably had – and maybe still have – tapes of Randy playing to help you learn. Will you ever release them?
“No, those tapes are sacred to me. Learning Randy’s parts was a challenge. I’d sit in my hotel room all day and practice to the live tapes then head to the show and watch Bernie and the band from the soundboard. I’ll never forget the soundman looking over at me, laughing, saying, ‘You’re next, buddy.’”
Do you have any wild memories from your tour with Ozzy?
“Too many to tell. [Laughs] But in August 1982, Ozzy showed up with a shaved head for the Cotton Bowl gig in Dallas. They bought him a blonde wig to match his hair color, and Rudy [Sarzo] cut it to copy his hairstyle. We thought it would be awesome to have fake blood on his scalp and rip his wig off very slowly in front of 80,000 people. Every mouth dropped. He pulled it off like the pro that he was. [Laughs]”
![Ozzy Osbourne (Irvine Meadows 1982) [06]. Suicide Solution - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8MfwVcQqNc4/maxresdefault.jpg)
Do you regret leaving Ozzy’s band and not making a studio album with him?
I felt the writing was on the wall – it was time to rejoin Night Ranger and build something special of our own
“I have no regrets. We did record the live show at Irvine Meadows that was released on MTV and then via VHS. We also played the Ritz in NYC to record live Black Sabbath material for the Speak of the Devil [live] record. At the end of the year, Rudy left Ozzy to rejoin Quiet Riot. My band Night Ranger just secured its first record deal. I felt the writing was on the wall – it was time to rejoin Night Ranger and build something special of our own.”
Did you stay in touch with Ozzy?
“I didn’t keep in touch, but he did stop by a Night Ranger recording session in LA.”
Where do you think your career might have gone if you’d never met or played with Ozzy?
“Who knows? I’m amazed I was offered that gig. Being hired under those tragic circumstances and by word of mouth is just crazy, but I was chosen to hop aboard that crazy train!”
- This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.
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