Renoff discussed the story while speaking to the Boston Herald about his new book on the early years of Roth's band, "Van Halen Rising: How a Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal".

When asked for one of his favorite stories of decadence that he discovered while writing the book, Renoff responded, "I didn't discover the story, but I was able to really flesh out all of the details about the notorious Birmingham, Alabama 'Krell [Cocaine] War' between Ozzy and [Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth].

"In November 1978 in Birmingham hotel room, they both snorted enough coke to kill an elephant. After a bus ride to Nashville, Ozzy passed out for 24 hours in the wrong hotel room and in effect was missing.