Ozzy Osbourne Guitarists Ranked

The prince of darkness has had quite a storied career.  And it wouldn’t have ever been possible without the help of some of the greatest musicians to ever breathe our oxygen.  Ozzy has, without a doubt, given rise to numerous mega stars in their instrumental field:  Bassist Rudy Sarzo, drummer Tommy Aldridge, drummer Randy Castillo and bassist Mike Inez among them.  But it’s the guitar players who’s career’s he made that truly stick out and stand the test of time.  Here’s a look at the five guitarists of Ozzy’s solo career ranked.

Number Five – Gus G.

Certainly the weakest of the guitar players.  Not that he’s bad by any means.  It’s just that the Firewind guitarist doesn’t stick out in any particular way.  He’s sort of Zakk Wylde part two.  There’s a pinch of originality.  He tunes mega low.  And he does have some classical training.  As evidenced from the stand out track on ‘Scream’, ‘Digging Me Down’.  But there is a lack of originality more so than the original elements he does bring to the table.  And he only plays on one record, 2010’s ‘Scream’.  And it’s pretty damn inconsistent.  It certainly has it’s moments:  ‘Soul Sucker’ and ‘Digging Me Down’.  And he was great at covering the classics on the tour.  But Gus’ tenure was short lived and Ozzy would welcome Wylde back into the band after Black Sabbath finished their final tour.

Number Four – Jake E. Lee

I know, a lot of you are reading this and going ‘how could you put Lee below Gillis?!?!’  And I’ll get to that when I get to Gillis.  But here’s the bottom line, Lee plays on possibly Ozzy’s worst album, ‘Bark At the Moon’.  While the title track is strong, the rest of the album struggles to find consistency and pace.  Now, Lee also plays on Ozzy’s most underrated album, 1986’s ‘The Ultimate Sin’.  And while the songs all possess strong riffs and production, the soloing isn’t particularly memorable.  There are some gems such as ‘Never’ and ‘Thank God For the Bomb’.  And the album as a whole is really good.  But ‘Bark At the Moon’ brings Lee down a notch.  And his energy and showmanship never seemed to quite fit the band.  Fun fact:  Lee won the gig over upcoming guitarist George Lynch who would go on to have a much more renowned career.

Number Three – Brad Gillis

Brad Gillis is the guitarist that saved Ozzy’s career.  While he has the shortest tenure of any Ozzy guitarist, that alone is enough to sandwich him in the middle of this list.  In fact, Gillis doesn’t even play on a studio record.  His one outing is a live album entitled ‘Speak of the Devil’ which a record of Black Sabbath covers.  But what Gillis did was step in after a legend, Randy Rhodes, died in a plane crash.  Rhodes died mid tour and Gillis came in and saved the day.  And he did it through all the heckling and hate because he was replacing a guitar mega star.  And they stuck with it and finished the tour successfully.  At the end of the day tough it was decided by both parties that they weren’t quite right for each other.  And Gillis left the band as was replaced by Jake E. Lee.

Number Two – Randy Rhoads

I’m sure there’s many of you who think Rhoads should be number one.  But hear me out for a sec.  Rhoads is amazing.  In his short period in the limelight he did more than almost any guitarist.  Fusing classically trained guitar work with heavy metal.  He started off Ozzy’s solo career and has written some of the most iconic guitar riffs of all time:  Crazy Train, Flying High Again, Mr. Crowley, the list goes on.  And there’s only two albums worth of material from him.  That’s how immediate his impact was as a guitarist.  Influencing millions to pick up the instrument.  Unfortunately, a fateful decision to try a little stunt piloting went wrong.  And he crashed into his death in the spring of 1982.  The two records that he played on: ‘Blizzard of Ozz’ and ‘Diary of a Madman’ live on.  Their legacy forever engraved in the annals of heavy metal.  So why isn’t he number one?  It comes down to one, simple element:  the songwriting itself.  While Rhoads is a legendary guitarist, his riffing would eventually be bettered.

Number One – Zakk Wylde

Our number one Ozzy guitarist is without question Zakk Wylde.  Not only is he one of the greatest of all time and still going strong, he’s also one hell of a singer.  And he adds so much to Ozzy’s live experience with his background vocals.  Not only that but he write riff after riff, groove after groove.  And he can jump into any guitarists style.  His first album with Ozzy ‘No Rest for The Wicked’ is a landmark album in his career.  The start of an era that would go on for basically the rest of his years.  When he wasn’t busy with Black Sabbath of course.  Personally, ‘No Rest for The Wicked’ is my fave Ozzy album.  Zakk’s guitar tone is so full and rich.  Like a golden layer cake.  And there’s so many unreal riffs:  ‘Miracle Man’, ‘Crazy Babies’, ‘Breaking All The Rules’ and ‘Devil’s Daughter’.  From the opening seconds of ‘Miracle Man’ you know that this guy is really special.  And he’s proven it over and over again.  Whether it’s with Ozzy or in his band Black Label Society.  And ‘No Rest for The Wicked’ is only his first album and the tip of the iceberg.  His second outing with Ozzy ‘No More Tears’ is one of the most excellent, consistent and legendary albums in all of metal.  Not to mention his unbelievable guitar solo on the ‘Live and Loud’ record from the tour.  His next album ‘Ozzmosis’ is recognized by many to be Ozzy’s best solo album.  Not to mention ‘Down to Earth’ and ‘Black Rain’.  Both of which are Ozzy’s most successful albums.  ‘Black Rain’ rivals the greats on it’s consistency.  And now it looks like Wylde is going to ride out into the sunset with his heavy metal father.  Ride on Zakk, ride on.

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