March 19th, 1982: The entire world was shocked by the loss of one Randy Rhoads, guitar legend and wunderkind, and one Rachel Youngblood, the Ozzy camps personal seamstress. One week later, a still-reeling, but calm Ozzy Osbourne took David Letterman's NBC stage to talk rock and roll, biting off animal heads, and to assure the world "you can't kill rock and roll" (a reference to the acoustic, atmosphere-filled cut from of 1982's 'Diary of a Madman', written and recorded with the late Rhoads.)
Ozzy Osbourne's personal and professional career was sent into an unexpected tailspin when 36 year old pilot Andrew Aycock had decided to take Randy Rhoads (25) and seamstress Rachel Youngblood (58) for a ride on a plane that was available while the tour bus that housed a sleeping Osbourne was parked. Aycock, a former pilot, who lost his license due to being involved in another incident, and later toxicology reports confirmed had cocaine in his system, had been up most of the night before. Andrew decided it would be fun to take some of the crew for a fly-over. Rhoads, who was known to have a fear of flying, was convinced it was safe after watching the first flight Aycock and fellow bandmate, Don Airey, took only moments before. A fateful decision that left all three on-board dead only minutes later. Most would have turned down the opportunity to do an interview within this time frame, to allow to grieve. Ozzy Osbourne, however, decided this would not do, and pushed on with the commitment he had made several weeks prior to appear.
Osbourne, dressed in a dark suit, and touting his usual brand of offbeat humor, would spend the next nearly 8 minutes talking about first jobs, the infamous bat-biting and pigeon-biting incidents, respectively, and the tragic loss of two dear friends.
“All I can say is that in the last week I’ve lost two of the greatest people in my life. But it ain’t gonna stop me cause I’m for rock and roll, and rock and roll is for the people, and I love people – and that’s what I’m about.”
Check out the interview below!
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Written by Steve Knudsen
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