Before he joined Metallica in 2003, Robert Trujillo spent years playing, first, with Suicidal Tendencies and, later, with the original heavy-metal wild man himself, Ozzy Osbourne.
"Ozzy's been an important part of my life," says the bassist, who can be heard on the Prince of Darkness' 2001 solo album, Down to Earth. "I mean, it's safe to say, [if it wasn't for] Suicidal Tendencies and Ozzy Osbourne, I would've never got the opportunity to be in Metallica. You know what I mean? Ozzy's been a really important human being in my life, and I'm grateful for him."
Trujillo recently re-teamed with the Ozzman on the singer's 2022 solo album, Patient Number 9, joining an all-star cast including Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Zakk Wylde, Josh Homme, Chad Smith and the late Taylor Hawkins.
So what's the bass player's favorite Ozzy song? We asked, and Trujillo didn't hesitate making his pick.
"Diary of a Madman"
I love that song "Diary of a Madman." To me, it's the classic Ozzy song. It's just got a balance of everything. I love what the rhythm section's doing on there and the counterpoint or sort-of pulse rhythms. The dynamic range of that song is really, really powerful.
You know, I remember when I was a teenager being at Guitar Center — I think I had ditched school and I snuck over to Hollywood by myself — and I saw Randy. I think he was in Quiet Riot at the time. He wasn't even in Ozzy's band yet. There was nobody else in the store, just him and these guys that worked there handing him guitars. He was this small little skinny kind of dainty guy — and he was ripping! He seemed very shy and I went up and, you know, nerded out on him for a second, like, "Hey man!" [Laughs]
Some of the stuff he was doing reminded me of John McLaughlin, like Mahavishnu Orchestra. In fact, if I remember correctly, I feel like he was playing the chord progression to "Diary of a Madman." And I was like, Wow. … And he looked up at me and kind of smiled. Again, he seemed very shy, but he was just ripping. And I was like, Who is this guy? And then when I discovered Quiet Riot, I realized who he was … and then all of a sudden he's the guitar player for Ozzy. And the rest is history.
