"Crazy Train" is the first single from British heavy metal vocalist Ozzy Osbourne's debut solo album, Blizzard of Ozz, released in 1980. It is also his first solo single. A live version of the song recorded in 1981 from the albumTribute was also released as a single in 1987 with an accompanying music video. The song was written by Osbourne, Randy Rhoads and Bob Daisley. The lyrics deal with the subject of the Cold War and the fear of annihilation that existed during this period.
Production and reception
Guitarist Greg Leon, who initially took Randy Rhoads' place in Quiet Riot, has claimed that he helped Rhoads write what would become the iconic "Crazy Train" riff. "We were hanging out, and I showed him the riff to Steve Miller's 'Swingtown'. I said: 'Look what happens when you speed this riff up'. We messed around, and the next thing I know he took it to a whole other level and end up writing the 'Crazy Train' riff." Guitarist William Weaver has also claimed to have written the signature riff and then presented the music to Rhoads in a studio session that they had both been a part of. AllMusic reviewer Steve Huey described the main guitar riff as "a classic, making use of the full minor scale in a way not seen since Ritchie Blackmore's heyday with Deep Purple." The song is one of Osbourne's best known and recognizable as a solo performer. It was rated 9th-greatest guitar solo ever by readers of Guitar World magazine. The song was also ranked ninth by VH1 on the list of the 40 Greatest Metal Songs and in 2009 it was named the 23rd-greatest hard rock song of all time also by VH1, the highest placement by a solo artist on the list. The single reached No. 49 on the United Kingdom singles chart in 1980. In the United States, the song reached No. 9 on the BillboardTop Tracks chart and the single peaked at No. 6 on the BillboardBubbling Under the Hot 100 chart in 1981. The master ringtone was certified double platinum and had by September 2010 sold 1,750,000 downloads. The Tribute re-release was accompanied by a music video.
The song was featured prominently in the 2010 filmMegamind, and in The Office's seventh-season episode, "The Seminar".
In 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump used the song in a Twitter video which imagined him crashing the first night of the first Democratic debate after technical difficulties marred part of the event. Osbourne and his wife Sharon sent a letter afterwards denouncing the president for using "Crazy Train" without permission and forbade him from using Osbourne's music in future political ads, suggesting instead that Trump use songs from artists who endorsed him like Kanye West, Kid Rock, and Ted Nugent.
Rachel Bloom sings a cover of the song in the 2020 Dreamworks film Trolls World Tour, which coincidentally also stars Ozzy Osbourne. This song plays in the film after Bloom's character, Queen Barb, steals the Techno string from King Trollex and the Techno Trolls. This cover removes the third verse and has the vibraslap play before the guitar solo.
