Ozzy Osbourne’s Greatest Guitarists

Ozzy Osbourne has left us, and continues his cosmic journey into realms unknown. What he has left us, though, are plentiful gifts. Not one but two full careers of great music, both with Black Sabbath and as a solo artist. That’s more than most musicians manage, and so for that, we are eternally thankful.

The thing about Ozzy is that he had a fantastic knack for finding exceptional guitarists. Was it good luck on his part or some inspired searching? Probably both, but whatever it was that brought them into his orbit, Ozzy’s sidemen over the years have been jaw-droppingly impressive. Each made his name through their association with the Prince of Darkness, and some of them remain household names to this day.

Today, I want to gather the best of them in one place, beginning with the leader of his main band…

Ozzy’s Top Guitarists At a Glance

Tony Iommi

Randy Rhoads

Jake E Lee

Zakk Wylde

Joe Holmes

Gus G

Tony Iommi

I definitely wouldn’t call Tony Iommi Ozzy’s ‘sideman’. Iommi was clearly the guy in charge of Black Sabbath. He believed in their music so much that he actually ditched a high profile gig with Jethro Tull after 4 days, to go back to his own band! He really knew he had something.

Iommi has written more than his fair share of legendary riffs, with a quality level that’s higher than most guitarists can manage to sustain for a career. Considering he lost the tops of two fingers in a factory accident, he’s quite an inspirational figure.

I don’t actually consider him one of ‘Ozzy’s guitarists’ at all, because the members of Black Sabbath were equals in the band, but how can I talk about the guitarists in Ozzy Osbourne’s career without including the original Riff Lord?

Randy Rhoads

What would’ve become of Randy Rhoads had he lived longer? We’ll never know, but at least he made his mark. Randy was Ozzy’s first solo career guitarist, performing on the Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman albums, as well as the live album Tribute.

Randy’s game-changing style blended exotic shred with a classical influence in a way that was exciting and new, not to mention impressive. His riff on Crazy Train is a stone-cold classic, but there’s loads more to his playing than just that. No matter how much people look up to Randy Rhoads, he’s still underrated in my opinion.

On top of all of that, he also designed a classic electric guitar! He developed it with Grover Jackson and released it as the first ever Jackson-branded guitar. It was of course named the Jackson Randy Rhoads, and remains one of the brand’s most popular models.

He didn’t live long, but he made one hell of a mark and left a huge legacy.

Jake E Lee

Randy Rhoads left some huge shoes to fill for whichever guitar player came afterwards. Luckily for Ozzy (and for his fans), that man was Jake E Lee. Able to play in a similar way to Randy as well as bringing his own sound and style to albums like The Ultimate Sin, Jake was the right man at the right time. 

Jake’s playing added a bluesier edge to the music, as well as a modal style that became de rigueur for 80s shredmeisters. From hits like Bark at the Moon to moodier pieces like Killer of Giants, Jake had the range and depth required to compete with the best.

Also, he was a flamboyant performer, a real showman who proved the perfect foil to Ozzy from 1983-87. After years in the wilderness, Jake came back with his new band Red Dragon Cartel, and now even has a signature Freidman amp and Charvel guitar!

Zakk Wylde

Alongside Randy, Zakk Wylde must rank as Ozzy’s most famous guitarist. The bullseye Les Paul, the chunky riffs and lightning fast runs…it’s iconic stuff, and noticeably heavier than previous players.

Zakk has been Ozzy’s longest-running guitarist, serving off and on for roughly 22 years. Wylde also served as Ozzy’s guitarist for what would be his final solo performance at the Back to The Beginning show in Birmingham.

Zakk Wylde is a bone fide guitar hero. His guitars are as iconic as his riffs, and his lead playing is amongst the greatest in the world. What’s less spoken of, perhaps, are his abilities as a songwriter and arranger. Wylde co-wrote most of the Ozzy songs he appears on, and has had huge success with his own band, the Black Label Society. Outside of that, Wylde also supplied guitar ferocity to a reformed Pantera, who also played at Back To The Beginning. When you think about it, who else could have possibly stepped into Dimebag Darrell’s immortal boots but this guy?

Joe Holmes

Joe Holmes picked up the baton when Zakk left Ozzy’s band for the first time, serving from 1995-2001. In a twist of spooky coincidence, Holmes was actually taught guitar as a kid by none other than Randy Rhoads!

Ozzy wasn’t Holmes’ first big gig, either. The guitarist was chosen to play for David Lee Roth (more big boots there) after his superstar guitarist Jason Becker was diagnosed with ALS. After this, Holmes auditioned for Ozzy and won the gig without actually mentioning his history with Randy. He performed on many tours (including Ozzfest performances) and co-wrote many songs, though never appeared on an Ozzy album. These days, Joe plays in his own band, Farmikos.

Gus G

Konstantinos Karamitroudis - better known by his alias Gus G - is a Greek guitar maestro. Gus was hand-picked by Ozzy back in 2009 to fill his coveted lead guitar spot, a job he held until 2017, when Zakk stepped back into the fray for a reunion tour.

Gus’s band, Firewind, actually started out as the name of a demo he cut to show off his skills after ditching Berklee School of Music after only 4 weeks. That demo won him gigs with Nightrage and Mystic Prophecy before Ozzy’s people got in touch. He recorded one album with Ozzy, 2010’s Scream, and toured for the next few years.

Gus G actually replaced Zakk Wylde in Ozzy’s band, and is the second longest-serving guitarist to Ozzy after Zakk. Firewind are still going strong, and he has several signature Jackson guitars on the market.

Unmatched Pedigree

The guitarists who worked with Ozzy Osbourne are real cream-of-the-crop stuff. It’s like a badge of rank and honour to have served as apprentice to the Prince of Darkness, after all! Each player has added their own sound and style to Osbourne’s music, and each deserves the respect they’ve earned.

I still reckon that Tony is separate to all of this, but it felt unusual to not have him heading up the Honours list! Outside of him, most of us will probably consider Randy and Zakk to be Ozzy’s defining guitar players, and that sounds alright to me.

Ozzy is gone, Randy is gone, but the rest remain, and are rocking as hard as ever. Long may that continue.