Having cut his teeth playing bass guitar for English blues outfit
Chicken Shack in the early '70s,
Bob Daisley is an Australian musician and songwriter most prominently known for his work with
Ozzy Osbourne and
Gary Moore. Some of his most widely known work can be heard on albums such as
Osbourne's 1980 debut solo effort
Blizzard of Ozz and several of
Moore's releases. Born in Sydney, Australia in 1950,
Daisley took up bass guitar at age 14 and excelled at the instrument quickly, catching the attention of local rock musician Dennis Wilson (Mecca, the Powerpact). The pair went on to form the band
Kahvas Jute and released one album --
Wide Open - via Infinity Records in 1971.
Daisley then went on to join English blues outfit
Chicken Shack as bass guitarist in 1972. He appeared on their 1973 record Unlucky Boy before leaving to join
Mungo Jerry later that year -- he performed on that band's 1974 record Long-Legged Woman Dressed in Black. In 1975, he co-formed hard rock group Widowmaker. The band put out two records -- a 1975 self-titled debut and 1977's Too Late to Cry. 1977 also saw the bassist join
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow after the departure of
Mark Clarke to record the
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll album.
Daisley recorded and toured with
Rainbow until 1979. That same year he met
Ozzy Osbourne at a venue in London just as the singer was preparing to launch his solo career after leaving
Black Sabbath. The duo helped seek out additional musicians --
Quiet Riot guitarist
Randy Rhoads and drummer
Lee Kerslake -- to form a backing band for
Osbourne's first release.
Daisley co-wrote, co-produced, and performed backing vocals as well as bass on the record
Blizzard of Ozz in 1980 and promoted the effort on tour with the rest of the group. He appeared on follow-up record
Diary of a Madman in 1981 but left the band before it was released. However, he re-joined the
Osbourne fold to write and perform on subsequent albums including 1983's
Bark at the Moon and 1986's
The Ultimate Sin. He left the group for good in 1991 after the release of the
No More Tears record. During the interim,
Daisley was involved in other projects; he joined
Uriah Heep in 1981 and appeared on two albums -- 1982's
Abominog and 1983's
Head First -- but left the line-up before the release of the latter. Between his time recording with
Osbourne, he also toured with guitarist and songwriter
Gary Moore and played bass on several of his efforts. Throughout the late '80s and '90s,
Daisley kept busy recording with many hard rock artists including
Black Sabbath and
Yngwie Malmsteen. The early 2000s saw him form the outfit
Living Loud with former bandmate
Kerslake, Australian vocalist
Jimmy Barnes, and
Steve Morse of
Deep Purple. They put out their sole self-titled album in mid-2004. He spent the rest of the 2000s writing and recording with musicians and bands such as Karl Cochran, Planet Alliance, and Thomas Tomsen. In 2013 he released his autobiography, For Facts Sake. 2014 saw
Daisley hired to produce the first LP from Australian rock band Cherry Grind. He put out the records Moore Blues for Gary -- a tribute to the late guitarist -- and Empty Rooms in 2018 under the moniker "Bob Daisley & Friends." ~ Rob Wacey