Ozzy Osbourne recently confirmed that 15 songs have been recorded for his upcoming follow-up to 2020’s “Ordinary Man” album. He is once again working with producer Andrew Watt on the “work-in-progress” LP, which will include guest appearances by Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Tony Iommi and Zakk Wylde.
Asked about his contributions to the new Ozzy LP, Zakk told Music Radar: “The new Ozzy stuff is sounding great. And for sure, it’s an honor to play on a record with all my heroes. It’s pretty cool… I can’t wait for everyone to hear it. I’ve always loved ‘Blow By Blow’ and ‘Wired’, but honestly, every record Jeff Beck has put out is amazing.”
Wylde went on to say that Beck “definitely sounds slamming” on the upcoming Ozzy album. “The same goes for all the guys — what Tony Iommi played, and then Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, it’s all killer, for sure. On those tracks I’m playing rhythm guitar for my heroes… it’s crazy! It sounds awesome and I’m beyond honored to be doing it.”
Earlier in the month, Ozzy told Metal Hammer magazine that his new album will be “similar in tone to ‘Ordinary Man’, but I can’t describe it completely. I’ve not heard it for a while because it keeps going over to the next person to add their parts — we’re fucking around with it all the time,” he said.
Watt connected with Osbourne after meeting Ozzy‘s daughter Kelly at a friend’s party and pitching her on the idea of Post Malone and Ozzy collaborating together.
Six months ago, Ozzy told U.K.’s Metal Hammer magazine that he and Andrew had completed more than a dozen for his next studio LP. “My only concern right now is finishing the bloody thing,” he said. “We’ve got the same production time as the last time, so there’s definitely going to be some similarities. But you’ll just have to wait and see what you think.”
In December 2020, Watt told Guitar World that he and the BLACK SABBATH legend were “halfway through” the new LP. “There’s some songs on there that are like eight or nine minutes long that are these really crazy journeys. I’m really excited about it,” he said.
Like “Ordinary Man”, which featured Watt on guitar, Duff McKagan (GUNS N’ ROSES) on bass and Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS) on drums, Ozzy‘s next album will feature guest appearances by a number of other notable musicians. “There’s a bunch of people involved,” Andrew told Guitar World. “I can’t say for sure until the end, but I started doing a bunch of basic tracks with Chad and Robert Trujillo [METALLICA], who used to play in Ozzy‘s band. And Taylor Hawkins [FOO FIGHTERS] also came in and played a bunch on the record as well, which adds a different flair — it kind of harkened back to Ozzy‘s ’80s era, in a great way. And I think it’s so cool for a rock fan to be able to listen to half an album with Chad Smith on drums, and then you flip it over and you get to hear Taylor Hawkins. And you know, the last album was really special for everyone involved. And so there was no point in Ozzy or me doing this again unless we thought we could bring something new to the table. And I feel like we’re achieving that.”
Wylde, who has played with Ozzy on and off for nearly 35 years, told Classic Rock that he wasn’t disappointed to be excluded from “Ordinary Man”. “Not at all,” he said. “I thought he and Andrew Watt did a great job. And I’m not on the new one either. Again it’s Ozz and Andrew. I understand why I’m not in the studio. Ozz once said to me that he didn’t want to be the lead singer in BLACK LABEL SOCIETY: ‘You have your own thing now, so go to it.’
“I don’t have to be involved in everything Ozz does. I’ll always be there for him and Sharon. If they call now and ask me to go over to feed their dogs for three days… I’m there.”
This past April, Zakk told SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” that he checked out some of the songs on “Ordinary Man” and liked what he heard. “It came out cool,” he said. “I saw the videos and everything like that. It’s cool, man. And Andrew and everything like that — yeah, it was rocking.”
Photo credit: Mark Weiss Photography
