“It was heartbreaking. I remember the day I saw that album and those erroneous credits for the first time. It was like a punch in the solar plexus”: Bob Daisley on not receiving credit for playing on Ozzy Osbourne’s Diary of a Madman

Regardless of the disputes that took place throughout the decades, the fact remains that Bob Daisley played bass and was a solid contributor to Ozzy Osbourne‘s first two post-Sabbath albums.

Indeed, 1980’s The Blizzard of Ozz, and 1981’s Diary of a Madman would be the records that would define the rest of Ozzy’s solo career.

However, to this day, Daisley says he feels cheated out of the credits and royalties he truly deserves for his contributions, even though he continued to return to the Osbourne camp throughout the ’80s and up until 1991’s No More Tears.

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In 2016, the long-standing history of legal battles culminated in a lawsuit against Osbourne and Blizzard Music Limited, alleging that they withheld over $2 million in unpaid royalties from the song Crazy Train alone – a claim that Osbourne and his team refuted. Daisley’s case was later dismissed.

“Just ask me what I thought of Rudy Sarzo being credited on Diary of a Madman!” Daisley asserts in a new interview with Bass Player.

“That was a travesty, a true crime against [drummer] Lee Kerslake and me. I’d worked hard on that album – as I do with every album that I’ve been involved with – both with the playing/writing aspects and the production.

“And then, to see all my hard work get credited to someone who’d had nothing to do with any of it was heartbreaking, and the same goes for Lee [who, like Daisley, was also fired before the second album was released].

“I remember the day that Lee and I saw that album and those erroneous credits for the first time; it was like a punch in the solar plexus,” he remembers vividly.

Daisley’s final wish? “I would love to see proper accreditation on that album before I take the long dirt nap,” he concludes.

Bass Player’s career retrospective with Bob Daisley will be published in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, another Ozzy collaborator, Jake E. Lee, recently looked back on his battle to make The Prince of Darkness’ The Ultimate Sin.

Janelle is a staff writer at GuitarWorld.com. After a long stint in classical music, Janelle discovered the joys of playing guitar in dingy venues at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Janelle has written extensively about the intersection of music and technology and how it is shaping the future of the music industry, and has a special interest in shining a spotlight on traditionally underrepresented artists and global guitar sounds. She also had the pleasure of interviewing Melissa Auf der Maur, Yvette Young, Danielle Haim, Fanny, and Karan Katiyar from Bloodywood, among others. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her creating layers of delicious audio lasagna with her Anglo-Maltese, art-rock band ĠENN.