Mr. Crowley
| "Mr. Crowley" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
1980 live single artwork | ||||
| Single by Ozzy Osbourne | ||||
| from the album Blizzard of Ozz | ||||
| B-side | "No Bone Movies" | |||
| Released | September 20, 1980 | |||
| Recorded | 22 March – 19 April 1980 | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal, synth-metal | |||
| Length | 4:55 | |||
| Label | Jet | |||
| Composer(s) | Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley | |||
| Lyricist(s) | Bob Daisley | |||
| Producer(s) | Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley, Lee Kerslake | |||
| Ozzy Osbourne singles chronology | ||||
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"Mr. Crowley" is a song by English heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne, about English occultist Aleister Crowley. Written by Osbourne, guitarist Randy Rhoads and bass guitarist/lyricist Bob Daisley, it was released on Osbourne's debut solo album Blizzard of Ozz in September 1980 in the United Kingdom. A live version was released as a UK single in November 1980. In North America, the studio version was released as a single in 1981.
The song begins with a keyboard solo by Don Airey. "I just cleared [the band] out of the studio and said, 'Come back in half an hour,'" he recalled. "Ozzy came back, heard it, and said, 'You just plugged into my head, man.'"
The first guitar solo by Randy Rhoads became one of the best known in heavy metal. It was ranked 28th best guitar solo by the readers of Guitar World in 2011. The song was ranked the 23rd greatest heavy metal song of all time, according to a poll by Gibson.