Late in Spring 2026 I received an email from Ozzy’Osbourne’s production manager, Rob Cowlyn, asking me to sell this drum set for him. I had worked a concert in the nineties for which Rob was the production manager. Rob lived in Nashville and was moving back home to England. He was not taking the set with him and was in a time crunch. I agreed to pick it up in Nashville and bring it to my place in Memphis. I looked into comparables of Ozzy Osbourne tour drum sets and found a Tommy Clufetos set that he had used on the Ozzy 2017-2018 No More Tours tour that sold for $44,800 at Julien’s Celebrity Auctions! Conferring with other dealers of celebrity instruments, the consensus was that this Aldridge/Ozzy set is a ‘double celebrity’ instrument since Aldridge is one of the most famous drummers, plus Ozzy Osbourne who passed on not too long ago. This one could go for even more.
Pictures below are just quick snapshots I took in my “drum shed” as I was starting to inspect and clean them. The other pictures are from the Diary Of A Madman tour booklet Rob gave me that shoe Ozzy, Tommy, a list of the drums and cymbals used on that tour, some pics of Tommy playing on that tour on these drums, and list of band and crew on the tour.
The picture of the tom on its side is not from the Aldridge set. Just a good example of the metallic bronze wrap color.
Because I was out most of the summer with one thing or another, I am just now starting to tend to this set - cleaning it up, finding two or three screws and wing nuts that need replacing, taking good pictures, etc. so it is not actually on the market yet. I’m also waiting for provenance from Tommy. The drums are in surprisingly good shape w very little wear and tear, especially for having been on a world tour and being used in a Nashville studio for forty years. Included was gear that Tommy did not use on the tour but Robin had used in his studio; Gibraltar rack with many clamps, mic holders, tom holders, etc., an Ocheltree snare drum, misc. Zildjian cymbals, throne and more. If the buyer does not want those pieces I will sell separately later.
Soooo… don’t ask me how much yet. A starting price will be determined once I have all my ducks in a row. I’ve dealt with selling celebrity instruments before and learned from experience that negative comments like “that set is not worth that much” only come from drummers who don’t understand the celebrity instrument collectors’ market and are not going to buy this kit. Celebrity collectors don’t buy the instruments for their intrinsic value, but because they were owned or associated with the particular celebrity. So this article is just about documenting this first stage of getting these drums ready to sell. I will update this article monthly. Spread the word.
Here is a letter from owner Rob Crowlyn dated June 30th , 2026, that I asked him to write concerning how he acquired the set and his relationship with Tommy.
To whom it may concern:
I became the owner of Tommy Aldridge’s very large Sonor drum kit (double kick, double rack and double floor toms) in the summer of 1982, at the end of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Diary of a Madman” tour, which ended in Japan (shortly after Ozzy married Sharon Arden on July 4 th in Maui – a wedding to which I was invited and present – quite the night!). Tragically this was the same tour where we had lost the amazing Randy Rhoads.
I was the production manager on that tour (listed by name in the tour brochure). In Tokyo, just days before the final show, Tommy came to me and asked if when the equipment returned to Los Angeles (ocean freight, in those days) could I ship his drum kit, used throughout the tour, back to Sonor in Germany. When asked why he told me he was ending his endorsement with them and either had to return the kit to them or send them a certain amount of money. A drummer myself, I asked if were I to give him the money to send them, could I have the kit, to which he readily agreed, so I paid him there and then and took over ownership of that amazing set of drums, which I have cherished for over 40 years!
Tommy and I were close friends, even to the extent we later shared a condo in Palm Springs during music rehearsals immediately before the original “Rock-in-Rio” show (a one-off in 1985), but even so I was surprised and thrilled that when we got back to the USA he sent me a package of several additional cymbals! One of the nicest people I have ever known, and a brilliant drummer.
Rob Cowlyn