Crazy Stories People Have About Meeting Ozzy Osbourne

As a fan of classic-era Black Sabbath, guitarist Kirk Hammett felt the pressure of being the lead-in for Ozzy Osbourne when Metallica opened for the legendary singer in 1986. "It was really intimidating," Hammett told Gibson TV. "To me, at that point, Black Sabbath were the ultimate." The band got the seal of approval from their hero when Ozzy showed up at a soundcheck. "We were playing, maybe [Black Sabbath's] 'Hole in the Sky' or maybe 'Symptom of the Universe,'" Hammett says. "And all of a sudden, out in front of the stage there's Ozzy with a big ole smile, going, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

Touring with the rock 'n' roll madman, however, came with some rules, Hammett says. "We were told by Sharon the entire time, 'You can't drink around Ozzy ... Don't give him any booze,'" Hammett recalls. "And we were really good. We were really paying attention to that."

However, Ozzy fell off the wagon with a little help from bassist Cliff Burton. "Ozzy ... goes onto our bus, and sees Cliff, and the first thing he says to Cliff is, 'Got any beer?' And Cliff is like, 'Yeah, Oz, right there, help yourself.'" Hammett says. "And so after about 20 minutes, all of us go on, and there's Ozzy on our bus, and he's drinking. Now we're like, 'Holy s***! What are we gonna do?'" Eventually, Osbourne's tour manager was able to extricate him from Metallica's bus. Somehow, the band escaped Sharon's wrath and remained on the tour.

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