Banali’s near miss with Ozzy

Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali has recalled how he nearly joined Ozzy Osbourne’s band alongside Randy Rhoads – until the singer’s record label blocked the move.

Rhoads signed up with Ozzy in 1979 after leaving Quiet Riot, while Banali didn’t become a member until the following year.

The drummer tells That Metal Show: “I was in a three-piece band called Monarch and we were playing the same circuit. We actually played with Quiet Riot a few times.

“When Randy went to audition for Ozzy, afterwards he calls me up and goes, ‘You want to come and play with this guy?’

“I said, ‘The guy from Black Sabbath? Okay. I don’t have a car.’ He goes, ‘I’ll pick you up.’”

A number of rehearsals followed, which Banali says “sounded great.” He continues: “That was going to be the band – but ultimately the label decided they were only going to spend money on one guy, and the guy was Randy.”

The pair kept in touch until Rhoads’ death in a plane crash in 1982. But asked how well he knew the guitarist, Banali replies: “Not as well as people would assume.”

Quiet Riot recently launched documentary movie Well Now You’re Here There’s No Way Back. Ozzy and Black Sabbath are planning to record their final album next year.

Freelance Online News Contributor

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.