Rudy Sarzo Born: Iconic Bassist Joins Quiet Riot and Whitesnake

Rudy Sarzo fled Cuba as a child during the wave of emigration that followed the Castro revolution and built a career as one of heavy metal's most respected bass players. Born in Havana in 1950, he arrived in the United States with his family and settled in Miami, where he picked up the bass guitar and began playing in local bands. He moved to Los Angeles to pursue a professional music career and was recruited by Ozzy Osbourne in 1981 to replace Bob Daisley in the newly formed solo band. His tenure with Osbourne coincided with the Diary of a Madman and Blizzard of Ozz tours, during which guitarist Randy Rhoads was killed in a plane crash while the band was on the road. Sarzo's memoir Off the Rails documented that period with emotional candor. He joined Quiet Riot in 1982, and his thundering bass lines on Metal Health, released in 1983, helped make it the first heavy metal album to reach number one on the Billboard 200. The album's cover of Slade's "Cum On Feel the Noize" became an MTV staple and introduced heavy metal to a mainstream audience that had previously dismissed the genre. He subsequently played with Whitesnake during their commercial peak in the late 1980s, anchoring the rhythm section on the multiplatinum Whitesnake album that produced "Here I Go Again" and "Is This Love." He also served stints with Dio, Blue Oyster Cult, and Queensryche, demonstrating a versatility that made him one of the most in-demand session and touring bass players in hard rock. His melodic approach to the instrument influenced a generation of metal bass players.