“Being in a band is so much more than the playing. Actually, the playing is down on the list”: Before Megadeth, Marty Friedman says he auditioned for Ozzy Osbourne – but “failed miserably”

Marty Friedman and Ozzy Osbourne.

Marty Friedman has opened up on his experiences of auditioning to become Ozzy Osbourne’s guitar player back in the late ‘80s – an audition the former Megadeth hero says he “failed miserably”.

Shortly before Friedman eventually joined Dave Mustaine and co at the onset of the ‘90s as the thrash metal group’s new lead electric guitar player, he was shortlisted as one of the “thousands” of guitar players who had been eyed up for the Osbourne slot, which had been vacated by the outgoing Jake E. Lee in ‘87.