Bubbling Under: Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train”

(Getty Images/Bryan Bedder)

Each week, Billboard magazine’s “Bubbling Under” chart features singles that rank below its famous Hot 100 chart. Some of rock’s most noteworthy performers have appeared on this chart, and each weekend we spotlight one of them.

It’s a popular anthem heard at sporting events. A version of it is currently being seen in a minivan commercial. It’s as mainstream as any song of the last 30 years. But it didn’t make the Billboard Hot 100 — Ozzy Osbourne‘s “Crazy Train.”

Osbourne, longtime lead singer of Black Sabbath, left the band and began a solo career in 1980 with the album Blizzard of Ozz. Its arguable that the album was a greater showcase for lead guitarist Randy Rhoads than it was for Osbourne; Rhoads quickly moved to the first rank of rock guitarists and stayed there until his untimely death a couple of years later.

“Crazy Train” was the album’s lead track and became a hit at album-rock stations. It was less likely to make a splash on Top 40 stations in a summer dominated by the Stars on 45 and “Bette Davis Eyes,” and as a result it reached only #106 on the Bubbling Under chart. But it proved the viability of Ozzy as a solo act, and paved the way for even greater stardom to come over the next 30 years.

Explore more bubblers.