Rudy Sarzo has clarified what was wrong with Randy Rhoads’ alleged ultimatum to Sharon Osbourne.
The discussion began when music journalist Dave Wight shared a recent Sarzo interview on X. He mentioned a story about Rhoads allegedly yelling at Jake Duncan to tell Sharon to pay him or he wouldn’t do the tour. “Randy Rhoads did not really have a temper, though there is allegedly a story before the start of the Diary of a Madman tour where is yelling at Jake Duncan to tell Sharon to pay him or he was not doing the tour… as part of our Q&A with Andrew Klein,” he wrote.
Sarzo quickly denied the claim, writing, “Allegedly Randy yelling at Jake Duncan to tell Sharon to pay him or he was not doing the tour. WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!!!”
“Allegedly Randy yelling at Jake Duncan to tell Sharon to pay him or he was not doing the tour. WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!!! https://t.co/RejFDnlsDd
— Rudy Sarzo (@rudysarzo) February 4, 2025
In the interview, Sarzo addressed Rhoads’ temperament, stating that Rhoads never got so angry that he would punch people or destroy guitars. “That pissed? No, never,” he said.
“I mean everybody gets annoyed. I’ve seen him annoyed by something but not angry,” he explained. “That’s a whole different emotion. You can get his passion for playing music by just looking at photos, you don’t even have to look at a video. He would be passionate at sound check. It’s just he could not play any other way than putting passion into his playing.”
Sarzo was Osbourne’s bassist from March 1981 to September 1982 on Rhoads’ recommendation. He played bass on the ‘Speak of the Devil’ and ‘Tribute’ live albums.
