Ozzy Osbourne called late guitarist Randy Rhoads a “gift from God” who had given him hope at the lowest point of his career.

The pair met months after Black Sabbath had fired their singer, sending him into a spiral of despair that included weeks in a hotel room with the curtains closed, feeding his drink and drug addictions.

Osbourne's situation began to change with help from his manager and future wife, Sharon, and in the new documentary Biography: The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne, the singer recalled how the change came about.

“I wanted to be more mainstream without selling out … I wanted to be more accessible,” Ozzy said of his plans to move on from Sabbath. “It was a slow process at first until I met someone who put me in touch with Randy Rhoads. It kind of all clicked together then.”

Osbourne noted he "was fucking out of my face and [then Rhoads] came in … in high-heeled shoes.” Any doubts were blown away when he heard the guitarist play. “I knew instinctively that he was just something extra-special. It was like a gift from God. … One thing he gave to me was hope. He gave me a reason for carrying on. He had patience with me … and he was very good to work with. He’d pull the best out of you. We had a lot of fun.”

Sharon recalled the battle she faced to rebuilt Ozzy’s reputation, noting that while fans still loved him, “as far as the industry goes, he’d got fired from one of the biggest rock bands in the world, he was an addict, so they wrote him off. ... As soon as he found Randy, it was like night and day. He was alive again.”

You can watch the clip below.

The two-hour production Biography: The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne will air on A&E on Sept. 7 at 9PM ET.

 

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