Groove – Episode #23: Rudy Sarzo

I’m a child of the eighties. Well, the seventies, too, but I cut my musical taste in the early eighties onwards. One of the most pivotal moments in music for me was the 1983 US Festival. The metal day, in particular. I can troll YouTube and watch videos from that day, and it still sends shivers up my spine. It’s hard to imagine this, but Quiet Riot made a huge splash and pushed the hard rock genre forward from that moment. The band pushed Michael Jackson’s Thriller out of the number one Billboard slot and set pace for many bands to push through and dominate the airwaves. Hard rock, hair metal, glam… call it what you want. I loved it all. I still do.

At that moment in time, Quiet Riot had Rudy Sarzo on bass. From there, he played with almost every single important band from the hard rock genre. When Whitesnake ruled the world, Rudy was on bass. Prior to Quiet Riot, he played with Ozzy Osbourne along with Randy Rhodes once Ozzy left Black Sabbath and set out on his own.

Artists like Dio, Blue Oyster Cult, Yngwie Malmsteen and even Geoff Tate’s Queensryche looked to Rudy to hold down their bottom end. He’s not just the sound of hard rock bass for generations, but he’s also an increadibly inspiring, emotional and passionate musician. He never lets up.

Enjoy the conversation…