After Ozzy Osbourne parted ways with Black Sabbath in 1979, things looked grim for him. He was directionless, he didn't have a band, and didn't have songs. Two people helped to turn him into an international superstar as a solo act: one was Sharon Arden, the daughter of Sabbath's manager Don Arden. She would soon become Ozzy's manager, and, eventually, she'd become Mrs. Osbourne. The other was the guitar prodigy that Sharon hired for Ozzy's new band, Randy Rhoads (the band was rounded out by bass player Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake).

Under Sharon's supervision Ozzy and his band recorded two classic albums, 1980's Blizzard of Ozz and 1981's Diary of a Madman, which not only established Ozzy as a star in his own right, but were also game changing albums in heavy metal, due in part to Rhoads' guitar playing. An example of Randy's influence: Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello named his son Rhoads.

Sadly, the Ozzy/Randy era was a short one. Rhoads died in an airplane accident in March of 1982. And as Ozzy discusses in this radio interview from five years later, he nearly retired from music after that. However, it was his wife who encouraged him to go on; not to mention that he felt that Rhoads wouldn't have wanted him to quit. In the years since, Ozzy has released nine more solo albums, one reunion album with Sabbath, and toured the world over and over (both solo and with Sabbath).