Heavy metal music has a reputation of having been devil inspired, however groups such a Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne show just how wrong this is, both in their similarities and their differences. They are fathers, husbands, and business men. They are adored by the masses and have become the largest sellers of heavy metal music. Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne (Ozzy) have had their share of tragedy and controversy, but their stories are more similar than they are different.
Both Metallica and Ozzy have suffered tragedies in regard to their band members. In March 1982, Randy Rhodes, the lead guitarist for Ozzy’s band, died in a plane crash. This was not something that anyone, let alone Ozzy, would have thought would happen. Randy was afraid to fly, but he was convinced by the pilot of the plane that it would be a safe flight, and he would not perform any crazy stunts like he normally did when flying the band. However, the pilot couldn’t resist doing a “fly by” and when the plane buzzed by the home, the pilot got too close and the wing clipped the house causing the pilot to lose control and crash the plane. This tragedy devastated Ozzy; Randy was like a family member to him. For a while Ozzy was not sure he wanted to continue in the music business and almost ended his career. However, he eventually realized Randy would want him to continue and so Ozzy continued to make music.
Metallica also lost a band member in a tragic accident. In September 1986, while the band was on tour in Sweden, the driver of the tour bus lost control causing it to crash and flip several times. Band member, Cliff Burton, was asleep in the back of the bus and when the bus began to flip he was thrown out of one of the windows. The bus landed on top of him and he died instantly. Cliff was the bassist for the band and they loved him like family, but they believed the band must continue so he was replaced.