John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English singer, songwriter, actor, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which he adopted the nickname the "Prince of Darkness". Osbourne was fired from the band in 1979 due to alcohol and drug problems, but he went on to have a successful solo career, releasing 12 studio albums, the first seven of which were awarded multi-platinum certifications in the US. Osbourne has since reunited with Black Sabbath on several occasions. He rejoined in 1997 and helped record the group's final studio album 13 (2013), before they embarked on a farewell tour which culminated in a final performance in their home city, Birmingham, England, in February 2017. His longevity and success have earned him the informal title of "Godfather of Heavy Metal".
Whitesnake are a hard rock band formed in England in 1978 by David Coverdale, after his departure from his previous band Deep Purple. Their early material has been compared by critics to the blues rock of Deep Purple, but they slowly began moving toward a more commercially accessible rock style. By the turn of the decade, the band's commercial fortunes changed and they released a string of UK top 10 albums, Ready an' Willing (1980), Come an' Get It (1981), Saints & Sinners (1982) and Slide It In (1984), the last of which was their first to chart in the US and is certified 2x platinum.
Monsters of Rock was an annual hard rock and heavy metal music festival held in Castle Donington, England from 1980 to 1996, taking place every year except 1989 and 1993. It later branched into other locations such as the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Sweden, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the United States and the Soviet Union.
Rock music in New Zealand, also known as Kiwi rock music and New Zealand rock music, began in 1955 with Johnny Cooper's cover version of Bill Haley's hit song "Rock Around the Clock". This was followed by Johnny Devlin, New Zealand’s Elvis Presley, and his cover of "Lawdy Miss Clawdy". The 1960s saw Max Merritt and the Meteors and Ray Columbus & the Invaders achieve success. In the 1970s and early 1980s the innovative Split Enz had success internationally as well as nationally, with member Neil Finn later continuing with Crowded House. Other influential bands in the 1970s were Th' Dudes, Dragon and Hello Sailor. The early 1980s saw the development of the indie rock "Dunedin sound", typified by Dunedin bands such as The Clean, Straitjacket Fits and The Chills, recorded by the Flying Nun record label of Christchurch. New Zealand's foremost hard rock band Shihad started their long career in 1988.
Wellington Regional Stadium is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. The stadium's bowl site size is 48,000 m2.
Richard Earl "Reb" Beach Jr. is an American rock guitarist. He is a member of the bands Winger and Whitesnake.
Rudy Sarzo is a Cuban American hard rock/heavy metal bassist. Sarzo remains best known for his work with Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, and Whitesnake, and has also played with several well known heavy metal and hard rock acts including Manic Eden, Dio, Blue Öyster Cult, Geoff Tate's Queensrÿche and Devil City Angels. He is currently the bass player for The Guess Who.
Ozzy's Boneyard is a channel featuring a classic rock themed hard rock format on Sirius XM Radio channel 38 and Dish Network 6019.
Wellywood is an informal name for the city of Wellington, New Zealand. The name—a conflation of Wellington and Hollywood—is a reference to the film production business established in the city by The Lord of the Rings film director Sir Peter Jackson, and Wellington-based special effects companies Weta Workshop and Weta Digital. The businesses operate a number of film-related facilities in the Wellington suburb of Miramar.
The discography of Ozzy Osbourne, an English heavy metal musician, consists of 12 studio albums, five live albums, seven compilation albums, five extended plays (EPs), 63 singles, nine video albums and 39 music videos. After being fired from Black Sabbath in 1979, Osbourne started his solo career with a band consisting of guitarist Randy Rhoads, bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake. The group released their debut album Blizzard of Ozz in 1980, which reached number 7 on the UK Albums Chart, number 8 on the Canadian Albums Chart, and number 21 on the US Billboard 200. Singles "Crazy Train" and "Mr Crowley" reached the top 50 of the UK Singles Chart, and the album has been certified four times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). 1981's Diary of a Madman reached the top 20 in the UK, Canada and the US, and was certified triple platinum by the RIAA. The album was the last to feature Daisley and Kerslake, both of whom were fired before its release and replaced by Rudy Sarzo and Tommy Aldridge, respectively, as well as the last to feature Rhoads, who died in a plane crash on 19 March 1982.
Jimmy DeGrasso is an American heavy metal drummer.
Texxas Jam was the informal nickname of an annual summer rock concert called the Texxas World Music Festival (1978–1988). It was held in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl, and in Houston, at either the Astrodome or the Rice Stadium on the campus of Rice University.
The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time is a book by Martin Popoff who is the editor in chief and writer of the Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles magazine as well as the senior editor of bravewords.com. He also wrote The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time.
Good to Be Bad is the tenth studio album by Whitesnake released in April 2008.
Ken K Mary is an American musician, who has worked as a drummer, producer, engineer, singer, record executive and writer on over thirty-five albums that combined have sold over five million copies worldwide. He has worked in genres from heavy rock to choral music. Mary is best known for his work with notable acts such as Accept, Fifth Angel, Chastain, TKO, Impellitteri, House of Lords, Bonfire and Alice Cooper, and is currently the drummer of Flotsam and Jetsam.
By Invitation Only is a tribute album by the Michael Schenker Group released in 2011. This album, made up of songs that influenced the career of Michael Schenker, includes guest performances from members of various bands, including Whitesnake, Blue Öyster Cult, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Iron Maiden. It's a re-release of the Heavy Hitters album from 2005, with one extra song.
The Classic Rock Roll Of Honour is an annual awards program established in 2005 by Classic Rock Magazine. Winners of the awards are chosen by the awards team and voted on by readers of the magazine. Winners are announced at an annual awards show and featured in the magazine.
"The Price" is a power ballad by the American heavy metal band Twisted Sister from their 1984 album "Stay Hungry". Released as a single, it reached No. 19 on the U.S. Top Rock Tracks chart.
