Rock Trivia, Volume Two: Gained Opportunities

On March 19, 1982, Randy Rhoads, the _wunderkind_ guitarist for Ozzy Obsourne's then new solo band, died tragically in an airplane crash. Heavy metal lost yet another genius guitarist.Seven months later, an album was to be recorded which was originally meant to be the definitive Ozzy live solo set, including material from _Blizzard of Ozz_ and _Diary of a Madman_. But with guitarist and producer Rhoads now gone, and Black Sabbath about to release their new live album (_Live Evil_) without Ozzy on vocals, Ozzy decided to have _Speak of the Devil_ be a live Sabbath album, since he owned rights to the songs as well.So he gathered up a supergroup to play the Sabbath songs:- Tommy Aldrige (drums)- Rudy Sarzo (bass)- Brad Gillis (guitar)Aldrige had played with Pat Travers in his prog-rock band, since 1971, and joined Ozzy's band before Randy died, two days after _Diary of a Madman_ was recorded.Sarzo played with Rhoards in Quiet Riot before he was asked to join Ozzy's band. (same day as Aldrige)Brad Gillis was an SF bay-area guitarist who had recently joined the band Stereo which would later become _Night Ranger_. I'm still not 100% sure how he auditioned for Ozzy's live band, but in either case, he got the gig. _Speak of the Devil_ has become a heavy-metal classic. Gillis' insane whammy-bar additions and tweaks of Sabbath songs gave them the modern treatment they needed, and his solo on _Paranoid_ blows away the original.While I'm sure that Night Ranger would have been successful anyway, Gillis' street cred amongst heavy metal guitarists rose when they recorded the live material for _Speak of the Devil_. For sure, he wouldn't be nearly as well-known as he is today if it hadn't been for Ozzy taking him on as Randy's temporary replacement.