Background Ozzy Osbourne was fired from
Black Sabbath on 27 April 1979. Former
Rainbow bassist
Bob Daisley was hired on 14 November, with guitarist
Randy Rhoads from
Quiet Riot following shortly after. The first song that Ozzy, Rhoads, and Daisley wrote together was "Goodbye to Romance." Former-
Uriah Heep drummer
Lee Kerslake was hired in March 1980. The band then went to
Ridge Farm Studios in
Rusper to record the debut album,
Blizzard of Ozz, from 22 March to 19 April 1980.
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. The band performed two secret warm-up gigs billed as "The Law" in September at Norbreck Castle Nightclub in
Blackpool on 3 September and at
West Runton Pavilion on 5 September. The band kicked off its opening night of the tour in front of a sold-out crowd at the
Glasgow Apollo on 12 September. "
Crazy Train" and "
Mr Crowley" were released as singles. "Goodbye to Romance", "I Don't Know" and "Suicide Solution" also received radio airplay. On 2 October, 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 19 March 1987. The live recordings of "Mr. Crowley" and "Suicide Solution" would be released on the
Mr. Crowley Live EP. 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. 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, were hired.
Blizzard of Ozz was released in the United States and Canada on 27 March 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. In April, the band began rehearsals for the North America leg at
Swing Auditorium in
San Bernardino, California. On 22 April, 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
The Joe Perry Project,
The Outlaws and
Mountain. On 28 April, the band went to Channel 31(WUHF) TV Studios in
Rochester, 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 11 May, the live recording of the
Cleveland Music Hall performance was broadcast live over the local rock radio station, later released as the first 13 tracks on the live
Tribute album. On 4 July, 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 28 July the Montreal performance was recorded live and broadcast on the "King Biscuit Flower Hour" radio show. The guitar solo from the song "Suicide Solution" from this performance was dubbed into the Cleveland recording of "Suicide Solution" for the
Tribute album. "Flying High Again" and "I Don't Know" from the Montreal performance were included on the bonus album
Ozzy Live for the 2011
Diary Of A Madman Deluxe 30th Anniversary Legacy Edition album release. 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 13 September 1981. ==Personnel==