Looking back on Ozzy Osbourne‘s legendary influence on rock music stirs deep nostalgia for many fans. That feeling was reignited when a long-lost rehearsal tape featuring the Prince of Darkness alongside guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Bob Daisley was uncovered decades later in an attic.
The UK outlet Sky News reported the lost tape was found by David Jolly (aka Chabby), a close friend of Osbourne, in an attic in Suffolk, England. The tape showed clear signs of age, with a yellow and faded cassette sticker that read “Ozzie’s Last Day.” It hasn’t been played in decades and featured Osbourne, Rhoads, and Daisley jamming to a blues song.
Based on details of the tape, the rehearsal was recorded in 1980 after Osbourne was notoriously fired from Black Sabbath. The 12-minute tape was recorded in Iketshall in Suffolk before they recruited Lee Kerslake as their drummer and went on to record the Blizzard Of Ozz album.
Jolly told the news outlet he had become friends with Osbourne during the time the tape was recorded and said, “Although he has the reputation of being wild, I found him to be a very unassuming guy and not as the picture painted.”
He details how Ozzy had given him the tape before parting ways, and Jolly simply put it away and had forgotten all about it. After learning about the rocker’s death in 2025, he decided to dig it up and found it in a briefcase.
Unlike other found recordings of famous artists, the tape didn’t hold unreleased music or a specific song. It was a jam session between Osbourne and the members who would push him into the next chapter of his career.
Daisley, the last surviving original member, heard the recording and immediately recognized Osbourne’s voice.
“I don’t know if we were auditioning a drummer and just loosening up a bit, or we’re just clowning about… but it wasn’t a song we were working on because we had definite songs by then, we had several songs,” he said.
While having his own mementos of their time together, the drummer admitted he had nothing like the rehearsal tape. It brought back memories of their time in Ilketshall and said, “It’s great to hear that stuff, to think, wow, we were good – because you forget. I’ve never heard anything like it before.”