A previously unheard recording of Ozzy Osbourne, taped just weeks after he was fired from Black Sabbath, has resurfaced more than four decades later.
The lost cassette, recorded in early 1980, was played publicly for the first time after being discovered in an attic, Sky News has revealed.
The tape captures Ozzy at a pivotal moment — between the collapse of his time with Black Sabbath and the birth of his solo career. Unlike the heavy metal sound he would soon redefine, the recording features a bluesy, stripped-back jam session, offering a rare glimpse into his musical reset.
The cassette, labelled “Ozzie Last Day”, had been handed to local worker David “Chabby” Jolly after Ozzy spent several weeks rehearsing in Ilketshall, Suffolk. Jolly stored it away and forgot about it for more than 40 years.
Following Osbourne’s death in July last year aged 76, Jolly unearthed the tape and contacted Sky News.
Inside a small studio in Suffolk, the tape was carefully played. At first, it appeared disappointing — Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Free Bird blared out, suggesting the cassette might have been recorded over. Then, after a pause, the sound changed.
“That’s Ozzy!” came the reaction.
The recording includes around 12 minutes of music from what appears to be a rehearsal jam, with Randy Rhoads’ guitar clearly audible and Ozzy’s vocals faint but unmistakable. One section features Osbourne singing lines such as “I’ve been awa-ay” and “My baby left me-ee.”
“That’s Randy Rhoads… and that’s Ozzy in the background,” Jolly says on the recording.
While not a lost master tape or finished songs, Sky News reports the cassette offers “a small window into a pivotal time in his life and career — the beginning of his second act.”
At the time of the recording, Ozzy had described himself as “unemployed and unemployable” after being dismissed from Black Sabbath. Within months, he would record Blizzard of Ozz, launching one of the most successful solo careers in rock history.
Jolly remembers Ozzy as far removed from his infamous public image.
“Although he had the reputation of being wild, I found him to be very unassuming,” he says. “More Ken Barlow than Prince of Darkness.”
The rediscovered tape, though imperfect and fragile, stands as a rare, intimate snapshot of Ozzy Osbourne rebuilding himself — before the world heard what came next.
To read the full article by Sky News and to listen to the tape click here.
