"Crazy Train" is the first single from British heavy metal vocalist Ozzy Osbourne's debut solo album, Blizzard of Ozz, released in 1980. A live version of the song recorded in 1981 from the album Tribute 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 subject matter of the lyrics is the Cold War and the fear of annihilation that existed during this period.
The song's main guitar riff has been praised for its use of the full minor scale. It reached No. 49 on the United Kingdom singles chart and No. 9 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart in 1981. The master ringtone was certified double platinum and had by September 2010 sold 1,750,000 downloads.
The song is one of Osbourne's most well 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 9th 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.
1980 Studio version
Ozzy Osbourne - vocals
Randy Rhoads - guitar
Bob Daisley - bass
Lee Kerslake - drums
Don Airey - Keyboards
1987 Live version
Ozzy Osbourne - vocals
Randy Rhoads - guitar
Rudy Sarzo - bass
Tommy Aldridge - drums
Don Airey - Keyboards
"2002 re-issue"
Ozzy Osbourne - vocals
Randy Rhoads - guitar
Robert Trujillo - bass
Mike Bordin - drums
Don Airey - Keyboards
The Flys, on the soundtrack Universal Soldier: The Return.
Pat Boone covered the song on his 1997 "In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy" album.
de:K.I.Z. covered the song on their album "de:Böhse Enkelz" on the soundtrack "Los gehts".
Lewis Lamedica (used as the theme to the MTV show The Osbournes)
Welsh Metalcore band Bullet For My Valentine
"Crazy Train" has been sampled in the following songs:
"Undead" by Hollywood Undead (in a different key).
"Let's Go" by Trick Daddy.
This song featured in the films Ghost Rider Megamind and in TV shows The Office and The Simpsons.
The parts of the musical instruments are sung a cappella by children, followed by the entire family singing lyrics, in a 2011 TV commercial for the Honda Pilot.
It was used as a theme song of Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen.
The Westboro Baptist Church spoofed the song by rewriting it for an anti-gay protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court in 2010. In response, Osbourne issued a statement saying, "I am sickened and disgusted by the use of 'Crazy Train' to promote messages of hate and evil by a 'church'." The church also announced plans to perform their version of the song while protesting the funeral of Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman in May 2013.
The song is a playable track in the video games Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 3.
Tom Morello and Serj Tankian covered the song for the tribute album Immortal Randy Rhoads: The Ultimate Tribute, which was released in the spring of 2015.
The New England Patriots have used the song as the background music for the team's field introductions at each of their Super Bowl appearances.
The Animated-Kids movie Megamind features this song.
