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Aussie Musician Sues Ozzy Osbourne Over Alleged Unpaid Royalties, Again

Australian musician and former Ozzy Osbourne bassist Bob Daisley is suing the Prince of Darkness over alleged unpaid royalties again, this time in relation to Osbourne’s hit song Crazy Train.

As NME reports, Daisley, who co-wrote Crazy Train on Osbourne’s 1980 solo album Blizzard of Ozz, is seeking USD $2 million from Osbourne and his company Blizzard Music Limited, but Osbourne’s camp denies any wrongdoing and says the legal action is “tantamount to harassment” given previous lawsuits Daisley has lost against Osbourne.

Daisley claims that although he has received royalties for Crazy Train over the years, a 2014 audit supposedly showed that Blizzard Music was “improperly deducting undisclosed fees” before paying the royalties, and was “improperly withholding Daisley’s rightful share of royalties owed”.

Osbourne’s representatives have since responded to Daisley’s lawsuit in a statement (via Billboard), which reads:

“For the past 36 years Mr. Daisley has been receiving bi-annual royalty statements and checks from Blizzard Music, totaling in the millions of dollars, which have been routinely cashed.

“Mr. Daisley has audited Blizzard Music accounts over the years using several different auditing firms who found no discrepancies. He has previously filed lawsuits in the UK and the US and has lost on each occasion.

“We understand that Mr. Daisley is now in retirement and that these funds are his main source of income, so it is his right to be diligent with his money, but after 36 years, this is tantamount to harassment.

“We would have hoped that after 36 years that Mr. Daisley would have lost his unhealthy personal obsession and resentment towards Mr. Osbourne’s success. Blizzard Music and Mr. Osbourne plan to vigorously defend these proceedings.”

In 2002, Daisley and former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Lee Kerslake failed in their bid to sue Osbourne over allegedly unpaid royalties for Blizzard of Ozz and 1981’s Diary of a Madman, with a judge ruling they had failed to prove how they weren’t properly credited.

Daisley contributed to a number of Osbourne’s studio albums in the ’80s: Diary of a Madman, Bark at the Moon, The Ultimate Sin and No Rest for the Wicked. He also played bass on a number of albums.

Meanwhile, aside from fighting Daisley’s lawsuit, Osbourne is also currently undergoing “intense therapy” for sex addiction, which he says has plagued him for the past six years.

Relive Crazy Train, the song which Daisley co-wrote and is now suing Osbourne over, below.

Listen: Ozzy Osbourne – ‘Crazy Train’

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