Ozzy Osbourne recently sat down with Revolver and discussed the time VAN HALEN opened for BLACK SABBATH on the iconic band’s 1978 European leg of their “Never Say Die!” tour.
“[Eddie Van Halen] was such a great guy. They came to our local pub and it was good fun,” Ozzy recalls. “But David Lee Roth, he’s lost a couple of nuts and bolts. When you meet him, it’s like, ‘What’s wrong with him?’ He’s like somewhere else, you know?”
Ozzy also touched on the supposed rivalry between legendary guitarists Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen.
“They were arch enemies,” Ozzy remembers. “Randy didn’t have a lot to say about Eddie. They were very, very similar guitar players. Eddie took that tapping thing to another level. Randy could do that, but he liked people like Leslie West.
“It amazes me that you get Eddie, you get Randy, and you go, ‘No one’s ever gonna top that.’ But there’s a new thing round every corner.”
The rivalry between Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen was explored in the documentary “Randy Rhoads: Reflections Of A Guitar Icon“, which was released this past May. The film features a scene containing audio of Eddie discussing Randy, saying, “He was one guitarist who was honest, anyway. Because he said everything he did he learned from me.
“He was good,” Van Halen continued. “But I don’t really think he did anything that I haven’t done. And there ain’t nothing wrong with it. I’ve copied some other people, you know?”