Before joining Metallica, Robert Trujillo was the bassist for Ozzy Osbourne from 1996 to 2003. Recalling the audition process for Ozzy’s solo band in a new interview with Louder Sound, Trujillo explained how he managed to land an audition in the first place and just how competitive it was.
“I got a call from Sharon [Osbourne’s] office to audition,” Trujillo said. “The funny thing was, I had the drum intro from [Ozzy’s 1981 solo song] ‘Over The Mountain’ on my answerphone message. And Sharon hears it and was like, ‘Oh my god…’ So that’s how I got the invite. There were, like, 500 bass players at the actual audition. I was fortunate enough to get the gig. For me, it was a dream come true.”
He continued, revealing that once he got the job he was given some unusual warnings about performing with the legendary Black Sabbath frontman.
“I was warned, ‘Hey, you might come out of the gig with scratches and scrapes, he might bite you, he might pull your hair, get ready for it,’ Trujillo recalled. “So I was kind of scared going into my first couple of shows.”
