“They were all having a difficult time, having lost a bandmate and a good friend. It was a dark moment, and I was in the middle of it”: Robert Sarzo was hired and immediately fired as Randy Rhoads’ replacement – but he has no regrets

Robert Sarzo is one hell of a player, as demonstrated in his band Hurricane and his diverse soundtrack work – but his career is often framed as a case of what might have been.

That’s because, in the aftermath of Randy Rhoads’ death in 1982, he was hired and almost immediately fired from Ozzy Osbourne’s band, in favor of Irish gunslinger Bernie Tormé. Sarzo holds no grudges: “For me, it wasn’t a gig to get,” he says.