Blizzard of Ozz Tour

Blizzard of Ozz Tour

Promotional tour by Ozzy Osbourne
Associated album	Blizzard of Ozz
Start date	September 12, 1980
End date	September 13, 1981
Legs	United Kingdom (1) North America (1) • United States (3) • Canada (1) -> North America (4) Total: 5 Overall: 2 Major Legs
Number of shows	United Kingdom (35) • England (31) • Scotland (3) • Wales (1) North America (92) • United States (80) • Canada (12) Total: 126 Cancelled (18) Overall Total: 144
Ozzy Osbourne concert chronology

The Blizzard of Ozz Tour was the first concert tour by English heavy metal vocalist Ozzy Osbourne as a solo artist, following his departure from Black Sabbath. The tour, which was in support of Osbourne's debut solo album, Blizzard of Ozz, covered the United Kingdom, the United States, & Canada from September 12, 1980 to September 13, 1981. The tour was a success as Ozzy made a great comeback with his debut album and Randy Rhoads making his debut as the newly recognized Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Guitar God/Hero/Legend.

Overview

Background

Ozzy Osbourne was fired from Black Sabbath on April 27, 1979. After that, Sharon Osbourne helped Ozzy get back on his feet to begin his solo career later that same year. After auditioning hundreds of guitarists, including Gary Moore from Thin Lizzy and George Lynch of Dokken, Ozzy could not find the guitarist that he had wanted. Then, at the request of the present bassist of the local Los Angeles band "Bad Axe" and future Slaughter bassist, Dana Strum, who had been hired by Ozzy alongside future Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali to be part of the original line-up, Ozzy ended up hiring Randy Rhoads from Quiet Riot as his new guitarist in late October 1979. Unfortunately, Dana Strum and Frankie Banali could not get their passports and work visas to go to England so they were no longer in the band, and Randy also had trouble getting his, but eventually it all worked out and he went to England and met back up with Ozzy. During that time, with Dana & Frankie out of the picture, Ozzy & Sharon had hired former Rainbow bassist Bob Daisley in November 1979, and he would later provide both Ozzy & Randy with a lot of help with writing both the lyrics & the a lot of the music for songs. The first song that Ozzy, Randy, & Bob had written together was "Goodbye to Romance" as Ozzy had a vocal melody, Randy had the great riffs & guitar melodies, especially the main signature intro guitar riff/melody, & Bob came up with the bass line & provided Ozzy with lyrics that suited his vocal melody. Then Randy had also come up with the riffs/melodies to songs like "Crazy Train", "Suicide Solution", "Dee", "Mr. Crowley", "I Don't Know", "Revelation Mother Earth", etc. as the band would also join in on writing the songs as well as finding a drummer. Eventually, after auditioning so many drummers, Ozzy, Sharon, Randy and Bob hired former-Uriah Heep drummer Lee Kerslake in December 1979. Then between January and February 1980, the band began to work on some of the material that Randy & Bob as well as Ozzy had begun to write as they wrote more material and rehearsed the material more to begin to recording a debut album. The band then went to Ridge Farm Studios in Rusper to record the debut album, Blizzard of Ozz, from March 22 to April 19, 1980. After that, Sharon got Ozzy signed to Jet Records through her father, Don Arden (CEO of Jet Records), so that they could release the finished album in the United Kingdom.

United Kingdom Leg (1980)

In August 1980, the band began rehearsing at Shepperton Studios in Shepperton, England for the upcoming "Blizzard of Ozz Tour" in the United Kingdom. Don Airey, who had been hired to perform keyboards and synthesizers on "Mr. Crowley", "Goodbye to Romance", & "Revelation Mother Earth", could not tour with Ozzy since he had already signed a contract to tour with Rainbow, so the band hired Lindsay Bridgewater as the new keyboard player who play with Ozzy until December 1981 after the U.K. Leg of the Diary of a Madman Tour was over. The band eventually did two secret warm-up gigs while billed as "The Law" in September, the first show being at Norbreck Castle Nightclub in Blackpool on September 3, and the second show being at West Runton Pavilion on September 5. The band kicked off its opening night of the Blizzard of Ozz Tour in front a sold-out crowd at the Glasgow Apollo on September 12 and their debut album was a success. a week before the album's UK release. The 70s Welsh heavy metal band Budgie would be opening up for Ozzy throughout the 1980 United Kingdom Leg of the tour. Then eight days later on September 20, Blizzard of Ozz was released in the United Kingdom and it was a huge success. "Crazy Train" was released as Ozzy's first big-hit single and "Mr. Crowley" was also released as a hit single. "Goodbye to Romance", "I Don't Know", and "Suicide Solution" also got tons of radio airplay. On October 2, they played at The Gamount Theatre in Southampton where the recordings of "Goodbye to Romance" & "No Bone Movies" would appear on the live Ozzy Osbourne/Randy Rhoads Tribute album, which would then be released on March 19, 1987. The live recordings of "Mr. Crowley" & "Suicide Solution" would be released on the Mr. Crowley Live EP. The rare song "You Said It All" was written by Randy & Bob in a hotel room in Oxford on October 1 (the day before the Southampton show) since the Jet Records wanted a good B-side for "Mr. Crowley" so they had the band write up another song quickly while they were still on tour in the U.K. After writing the song, the band rehearsed it the next day at the Gaumont Theatre in Southampton, and recorded it during their sound check just hours prior to show. That sound check contains the only performance of "You Said It All". The tapes were then sent to the studio for the addition of crowd noises to make it into a live along with additional polishing of the sound of the recording. The song was also put on the Live EP as well. On November 1, the band did its last show of the U.K. Leg as the "Blizzard of Ozz" at the "Canterbury Odeon." Sharon got Ozzy signed to CBS Records in the United States and Canada through CBS records executive Tony Martell in January 1981 after the infamous Ozzy incident that would go down as one of the craziest events in hard rock/heavy metal history since Ozzy & Sharon visited these snobby, pretentious, dull, & impatient record company executives at Columbia Records to promote Blizzard so that it could be released in the U.S. During the meeting, Sharon wanted to release 2 doves as a sign of peace, but instead Ozzy had other plans as he bit the head off one of the doves, which caused freaked out everyone in the room & caused nothing but mayhem, yet it got them signed. The band then regrouped back at Ridge Farm to record a second album, Diary of a Madman between February & March 1981. Tensions between Ozzy/Sharon & Bob/Lee over contract issues over their names, money, credit, & royalties were getting worse, which then led to Sharon firing both Bob & Lee in March 1981. After that, Ozzy, Sharon, & Randy then went back to the United States to look for a new drummer & bassist so that they could kick off the North American Leg of the Blizzard of Ozz Tour.

North America Leg (1981)

In March 1981, after firing Bob & Lee in April, as well as being signed to CBS Records in the United States, Ozzy hired the drummer that he had wanted in the first place, former-Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers, & Gary Moore drummer, Tommy Aldridge. After that, former-Quiet Riot bassist as well as one of Randy's closest friends, Rudy Sarzo, was asked by Sharon at Randy's request to audition as the new bassist for Ozzy's band. After the audition was over, Ozzy, Sharon, Randy, & Tommy hired Rudy as the new bassist. Blizzard of Ozz was then released in the United States and Canada through CBS Records on March 27, 1981, and it became a huge success, "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" became big hits and "Goodbye to Romance", "I Don't Know" and "Suicide Solution" also got lots of radio airplay. The album went platinum. In April, the band began the pre-production rehearsals for the North America Leg of the tour at the "The Swing Auditorium" in San Bernardino, California. On April 22, the band kicked off the North America Leg of the tour at Towson Arena in Maryland in front of a sold-out crowd, thus making the show a huge success. Throughout much of the 1st 2 United States Legs of the tour as well as the Canada Leg until Heavy Metal Holocaust on August 1, 1981, the band was supported by English heavy metal band Motörhead during the 1st 2 U.S. Legs. On April 28, the band went to 31 Studios in Ogden, New York (just outside Rochester) to film a live performance of the band playing "I Don't Know", "Suicide Solution", "Mr. Crowley", & "Crazy Train", which would be broadcast on the After Hours TV Show as live promo-videos of their songs. On May 2, the band did 2 shows at The Palladium in New York City in front of sold-out crowds. On May 11, the band performed at the Cleveland Music Hall in front of another sold-out crowd, and the live recording of that performance, which was broadcast live over the local rock radio station, eventually became as the first 13 tracks on the "Tribute." On July 4, the band performed as the special guests in front of their biggest crowd ever on the tour at Bill Graham's Day on the Green Festival (1981) where "415" & Loverboy opened up as the band would then warm up for Pat Travers, Blue Öyster Cult, & the headliner, Heart. Then the band kicked off the tour in Canada on July 14 at the Victoria Memorial Arena. For the Canadian leg of the tour, the Queen City Kids were the opening band for both Ozzy & Motörhead since Canada would not let them tour unless they had a Canadian band be a part of their bill. On August 1, both Ozzy, who would be opening up for Motörhead for the 1st & last time during this show instead of having them open up, along with Triumph, Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush, Riot, and the opening band, Vardis, performed at Heavy Metal Holocaust (1981) at Vale Park in Burslem, Stoke, England. That would be the last show of the Ozzy/Motörhead tour. After that, the band went back to finish the Blizzard of Ozz Tour in the United States with 80s English hard rock band Def Leppard, who were supporting their second studio album High 'n' Dry, along with Joe Perry as the opening band. The band ended the tour with its last show at Peabody Auditorium in Daytona Beach on September 13, 1981. Overall, the tour was a major success as Ozzy made a great comeback with a great band, the greatest debut album of all-time, a highly anticipated up-&-coming new album, & especially, a newly recognized guitar god/hero/legend.

Personnel

United Kingdom Leg (1980)

• Ozzy Osbourne – Vocals
• Randy Rhoads – Guitar
• Bob Daisley – Bass
• Lee Kerslake – Drums
• Lindsay Bridgewater – Keyboards

North America Leg (1981)

• Ozzy Osbourne – Vocals
• Randy Rhoads – Guitar
• Rudy Sarzo – Bass
• Tommy Aldridge – Drums
• Lindsay Bridgewater – Keyboards

Setlists

United Kingdom Leg (1980) 

"O Fortuna" ("Carl Orff" Song) [Audio Introduction]

1. "I Don't Know"
2. "You Lookin' at Me Lookin' at You"
3. "Crazy Train"
4. "Goodbye to Romance"
5. "No Bone Movies"
6. "Mr. Crowley"
7. "Revelation Mother Earth"
8. "Suicide Solution"
   [+ "Randy Rhoads Guitar Solo"
    + "Lee Kerslake Drum Solo"]
9. "Iron Man" + "Children of the Grave"
   ("Black Sabbath" Covers)
10. "Steal Away the Night"
11. "Paranoid" ("Black Sabbath" Cover) [Encore]

North America Leg (1981) 

"O Fortuna" ("Carl Orff" Song) [Audio Introduction]

1. "I Don't Know"
2. "Crazy Train"
3. "Believer"
4. "Mr. Crowley"
5. "Flying High Again"
6. "Revelation Mother Earth"
7. "Steal Away the Night"
8. "Tommy Aldridge Drum Solo"
9. "No Bone Movies"
10. "Suicide Solution" [+ "Randy Rhoads Guitar Solo"]
11. "Iron Man" + "Children of the Grave"
    ("Black Sabbath" Covers)
12. "Paranoid" ("Black Sabbath" Cover) [Encore]

Tour Dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
1980
UNITED KINGDOM LEG
United Kingdom Leg
August 14, 1980	Edinburgh	Scotland	Edinburgh Nite Club
August 15, 1980	Newcastle	England	"The Mayfair" Ballroom
August 19, 1980	Manchester		"Rotter's" Nightclub
August 24, 1980	Reading		Little John's Farm (Reading Rock Festival 1980)
Secret Warm-Up Gigs
September 3, 1980	Blackpool	England	Norbreck Castle Nightclub (Billed as "The Law")
September 5, 1980	West Runton		West Runton Pavilion (Billed as "The Law")
United Kingdom Leg
September 12, 1980	Glasgow	Scotland	"Glasgow Apollo" Theatre (Live Debut as the "Blizzard of Ozz")
September 13, 1980	Dundee		Caird Hall
September 15, 1980	Edinburgh		"Edinburgh Odeon" Theatre
September 17, 1980	Newcastle	England	Newcastle City Hall
September 18, 1980	Bradford		St. George's Hall
September 20, 1980	London		"Hammersmith Odeon" Theatre
September 23, 1980	Manchester		"Manchester Apollo" Theatre
September 24, 1980	Coventry		Coventry Theatre
September 26, 1980	Liverpool		Liverpool Royal Court Theatre
September 28, 1980	Birmingham		"Birmingham Odeon" Theatre
September 29, 1980	Leicester		De Montfort Hall
October 1, 1980	Oxford		Oxford New Theatre
October 2, 1980	Southampton		Southampton Gaumont Theatre ("Mr. Crowley Live EP") ("Goodbye to Romance" & "No Bone Movies" – "Tribute") (Only Known Performance of "You Said It All" during the Soundcheck before the Show)
October 3, 1980	Stoke		The King's Hall (Ballroom)
October 5, 1980	Derby		Derby Assembly Rooms (Great Hall)
October 6, 1980	Blackburn		King George's Hall
October 7, 1980	Sheffield		Sheffield City Hall (Oval Hall)
October 9, 1980	Cardiff	Wales	Sophia Gardens Pavilion
October 10, 1980	Taunton	England	"Taunton Odeon" Theatre
October 11, 1980	Poole		Poole Arts Centre (Wessex Hall)
October 13, 1980	Malvern		Malvern Winter Gardens
October 14, 1980	Brighton		Brighton Dome
October 16, 1980	Wolverhampton		Wolverhampton Civic Hall
October 17, 1980	Newcastle		"The Mayfair" Ballroom
October 18, 1980	Hull		Hull City Hall (Grand Central Hall)
October 20, 1980	Bristol		Colston Hall
October 21, 1980	Canterbury		"Canterbury Odeon" Theatre
October 22, 1980	Chelmsford		"Chelmsford Odeon" Theatre
October 23, 1980	Ipswich		Ipswich Gaumont Theatre
October 26, 1980	London		"Hammersmith Odeon" Theatre
October 28, 1980	Sunderland		"The Mayfair" Theatre
October 29, 1980	Middlesbrough		Middlesbrough Town Hall (Theatre)
October 31, 1980	Brighton		Brighton Dome
November 1, 1980	Canterbury		"Canterbury Odeon" Theatre (Bob Daisley & Lee Kerslake's Last Known Show)
November 8, 1980	Nottingham		The Boat Club
1981
NORTH AMERICA LEG
Supported by Motörhead (April 22–August 1, 1981) See also: Ace of Spades Tour
United States (1st Leg)
April 22, 1981	Towson	United States	Towson Arena (1st Show Billed as "Ozzy Osbourne") (Rudy Sarzo & Tommy Aldridge's 1st Show)
April 23, 1981	Harrisburg		Harrisburg Forum Auditorium
April 24, 1981	Passaic		The Capitol Theater
April 25, 1981	Upper Darby		"The Tower" Theater
April 26, 1981	Bethlehem		Stabler Arena
April 28, 1981	Ogden		31 Studios (After Hours)
April 29, 1981	Rochester		Rochester Auditorium Theater
April 30, 1981	Syracuse		The Landmark Theater
May 1, 1981	Boston		Boston Orpheum Theater
May 2, 1981	New York City		The Palladium (2 Shows)
May 3, 1981	Poughkeepsie		Mid-Hudson Civic Center (Mair Hall)
May 4, 1981	Springfield		Springfield Civic Arena
May 6, 1981	Buffalo		Shea's Buffalo Theater
May 8, 1981	Johnstown		Cambria County War Memorial Arena
May 9, 1981	Trotwood		Hara Arena
May 10, 1981	Toledo		Toledo Sports Arena
May 11, 1981	Cleveland		Cleveland Music Hall (1st 13 Tracks of "Tribute")
May 12, 1981	Erie		Erie County Field House
May 13, 1981	Columbus		Columbus Veterans Memorial Auditorium
May 15, 1981	Louisville		Louisville Gardens
May 16, 1981	Saginaw		Wendler Arena
May 18, 1981	Indianapolis		Indianapolis Convention Center Arena
May 19, 1981	Detroit		Detroit Masonic Temple Theater
May 20, 1981	Milwaukee		The Riverside Theater
May 22, 1981	St. Louis		The Checkerdome
May 23, 1981	Rockford		Rockford Metro Center
May 24, 1981	Chicago		"The Aragon" Ballroom
May 25, 1981	Minneapolis		East River Flats Park (River Flats Jam 1981)
May 28, 1981	Omaha		Omaha Music Hall
May 30, 1981	Tulsa		Brady Theater
May 31, 1981	Austin		Austin Municipal Auditorium
June 2, 1981	Kansas City		Kansas City Memorial Hall
June 4, 1981	San Antonio		San Antonio Convention Center Arena
June 5, 1981	Fort Worth		Will Rogers Memorial Auditorium
June 6, 1981	Beaumont		Beaumont Fair Park Coliseum
June 7, 1981	Houston		Sam Houston Coliseum
North America (2nd Leg)
United States (2nd Leg)
June 18, 1981	Denver	United States	Rainbow Music Hall
June 19, 1981	Colorado Springs		Colorado Springs City Auditorium
June 21, 1981	El Paso		El Paso County Coliseum
June 23, 1981	Tucson		Tucson Community Center Arena
June 24, 1981	Phoenix		Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
June 25, 1981	Las Vegas		"The Aladdin" Theater
June 26, 1981	San Diego		The Fox Theater
June 27, 1981	Long Beach		Long Beach Arena
June 28, 1981	Tempe		ASU Activities Center
June 30, 1981	Fresno		Selland Arena
July 2, 1981	San Bernardino		The Swing Auditorium
July 3, 1981	Bakersfield		Bakersfield Civic Auditorium
July 4, 1981	Oakland		Oakland Coliseum (Day on the Green 1981)
July 5, 1981	Santa Cruz		Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
July 6, 1981	Reno		Washoe County Fairgrounds Pavilion
July 7, 1981	Redding		Redding Civic Auditorium
July 9, 1981	Eugene		McArthur Court
July 10, 1981	Yakima		Yakima Speedway
July 11, 1981	Portland		The Paramount Theater
July 12, 1981	Seattle		The Paramount Theater
Canada Leg
July 14, 1981	Victoria	Canada	Victoria Memorial Arena
July 15, 1981	Vancouver		Kerrisdale Arena
July 17, 1981	Edmonton		Kinsmen Field House
July 18, 1981	Calgary		Max Bell Arena
July 20, 1981	Winnipeg		Winnipeg Arena
July 23, 1981	Kitchener		Raffi Armenian Theatre
July 24, 1981	London		London Gardens
July 25, 1981	Hamilton		Hamilton Place Theatre
July 26, 1981	Kingston		Jacques Hardy Arena
July 27, 1981	Toronto		Maple Leaf Gardens
July 28, 1981	Montreal		St. Denis Theatre 1
July 29, 1981	Ottawa		Ottawa Civic Arena
HEAVY METAL HOLOCAUST (1981)
August 1, 1981	Burslem	England	Vale Park
UNITED STATES (FINAL LEG)
Supported by Def Leppard (August 2–September 13, 1981) See also: High 'N' Dry Tour
August 2, 1981	New Haven	United States	New Haven Coliseum
August 4, 1981	Glens Falls		Glens Falls Civic Arena
August 5, 1981	Portland		Cumberland County Civic Arena
August 6, 1981	Bangor		Bangor Auditorium
August 7, 1981	Providence		Ocean State Theater
August 8, 1981	South Fallsburg		Music Mountain Theater
August 9, 1981	South Yarmouth		Cape Cod Coliseum
August 11, 1981	Pittsburgh		Stanley Theater
August 12, 1981	Utica		Utica Memorial Auditorium
August 13, 1981	Binghamton		Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena
August 14, 1981	Hempstead		Nassau Coliseum
August 15, 1981	Asbury Park		Asbury Park Convention Hall
August 16, 1981	Columbia		Merriweather Post Pavilion
August 18, 1981	Norfolk		The Premier Theater
August 19, 1981	Roanoke		Roanoke Civic Arena
August 21, 1981	Evansville		Mesker Music Theater
August 22, 1981	Hoffman Estates		Poplar Creek Music Theater
August 23, 1981	East Troy		Alpine Valley Music Theater
August 24, 1981	Ashwaubenon		Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena
August 25, 1981	Davenport		Palmer Alumni Auditorium
August 27, 1981	Fort Wayne		Foellinger Theater
August 28, 1981	Indianapolis		Circle Theater
August 29, 1981	South Bend		Morris Civic Auditorium
August 30, 1981	Grand Rapids		Welsh Auditorium
August 31, 1981	Clarkston		Pine Knob Music Theater
September 2, 1981	Springfield		Prairie Capital Convention Center Arena
September 3, 1981	Memphis		Memphis Orpheum Theater
September 4, 1981	Atlanta		The Fox Theater
September 5, 1981	Fayetteville		Cumberland County Memorial Arena
September 6, 1981	Charlotte		Charlotte Park Center (Auditorium)
September 8, 1981	Columbus		Columbus Municipal Auditorium
September 9, 1981	Tampa		Curtis Hixon Hall
September 10, 1981	Fort Pierce		St. Lucie County Civic Arena
September 11, 1981	Sunrise		Sunrise Musical Theater
September 12, 1981
September 13, 1981	Jacksonville		Jacksonville Exhibition Hall
	Daytona Beach		Peabody Auditorium