Randolpho Francisco Castillo was an American musician. He was Ozzy Osbourne's drummer during the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, and later as drummer for Mötley Crüe, from 1999 to his death in 2002.
In 1984, Castillo was hired to play drums for Lita Ford and was featured on her Dancin' on the Edge album. Ford introduced Castillo to her boyfriend, Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx, and Nikki’s bandmate Tommy Lee. Shortly after the “Dancin’ on the Edge” tour, Lee called Castillo from a party he was at with Ozzy Osbourne and told him Ozzy was looking for a new drummer. Despite being unable to audition right away due to a broken leg he suffered while skiing, Castillo was hired by Osbourne a couple months later and ended up staying with the Ozzy Osbourne band for ten years, recording five albums with Ozzy during that time: The Ultimate Sin, No Rest for the Wicked, Just Say Ozzy, No More Tears, and a double-disc live album, Live & Loud. After recording Ozzy's live album in 1993, he joined the short-lived Bone Angels, followed by Red Square Black. Castillo also briefly returned to Osbourne's band in 1995 for a tour, and played drums on several tribute albums during this time. He played with Ronnie James Dio on a cover of Alice Cooper's "Welcome To My Nightmare" on the Alice Coopertribute album "Welcome To The Nightmare " and performed all drumming duties on a star-studded Def Leppard tribute album titled Leppardmania. The album featured John Corabi, Paul Shortino, Kevin DuBrow, Joe Leste, and Jani Lane, among others. Guitar and bass duties were handled by Jerry Dixon and Erik Turner of Warrant, and Tracii Guns of L.A. Guns. In 1999, after Lee had left Mötley Crüe, Sharon Osbourne called Castillo and suggested he join the band, which he did without audition. He'd previously briefly played with Vince Neil as a touring drummer for the Vince Neil Band, and was an old friend of the band. His only recording with the band, 2000's New Tattoo, was somewhat of a return to the classic Mötley Crüe sound. However, fan reaction was mixed and the album was not as successful as the band was hoping it would be. Still, there was excitement over the upcoming tour due to the revival in interest of many '80s hard rock acts, and the band geared up for their "Maximum Rock" tour with thrash metal legends Anthrax and Megadeth.
Death
Several weeks before Mötley Crüe was set to tour the New Tattoo album, joining Megadeth and Anthrax on the Maximum Rock Tour, Castillo became ill while performing with his mariachi side project Azul at the Cat Club in Hollywood. Immediately after the show Castillo took a cab to nearby Cedars Sinai Hospital where he collapsed as he was being admitted. The doctors discovered a duodenal ulcer that had ruptured his stomach and performed emergency surgery that saved Castillo’s life. With Castillo out of action, Hole drummer Samantha Maloney filled in for the tour. In October 2000, while taking time off from Mötley Crüe to recover from his surgery, he discovered a small lump on his jaw and a month later, after it had grown to roughly the size of a golf ball, he sought treatment and was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, a common form of cancer that is not usually fatal if it is discovered early but can spread rapidly if left untreated. The cancer went into remission in mid-2001, and he was rumored to be rejoining Osbourne's solo band for that summer Ozzfest tour, though these rumors were later revealed to be untrue. Within a few months the cancer returned, and a few days after returning to the doctors, Castillo died on March 26, 2002 aged 51. During the final weeks of his life, Castillo had been working with ex-Ozzy Osbourne and Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez on a new band and was in the process of hiring a singer.
Equipment
For much of his career, Castillo exclusively used Tama drums, Remo drum heads, Zildjian cymbals, and Pro-mark drumsticks. Drum setup circa 1987: Drums: Tama Artstar II:
