Guitar World Interview
In his 25-year reign as the Godfather of Metal, Ozzy Osbourne has been through it all-drug and alcohol abuse, a grand mal seizure, the death of Randy Rhoads and, most recently, the dismissal of Zakk Wylde. In this rare interview, Ozzy explains what keeps him coming back for more.
By Jeff Kitts
"I am never, ever going to retire again."
Such a statement shouldn't sound surprising coming from Ozzy Osbourne, a man who has officially "retired" numerous times in the past few years, only to return again and again to the heavy metal spotlight that has been his home for over 25 years. With a new studio album, Ozzmosis, and a new guitar player, Joe Holmes, it is quite obvious that the blizzard of Ozz is back-this time, he says, for good.
"I just couldn't take being retired," says Osbourne. "I was like a fish out of water. The truth is that all I have is my voice-without that, I can't live."
Osbourne and his new right-hand man Holmes have come to today's Guitar School interview and photo session in Burbank, California, fully primed and fired up. Eager to make his mark on the world, Holmes is incapable of walking more than five feet without picking up his trashed '73 Strat and unleashing quick bursts of unplugged riffage for anyone within earshot.
"He walks around with that guitar all day long," says Osbourne. "He even goes to the fucking toilet with the thing!"
At 46, Ozzy Osbourne is in the best shape of his life-physically, mentally and vocally. Sitting at a small table in the photo-studio lobby, Ozzy is wearing black sweatpants, a black tank top, blue-tinted glasses (admittedly superstitious, he never wears green) and enough gold jewelry to sink a ship. Despite the tinnitis in his ears and the visible apparent effects of a neurologically damaging grand mal seizure he suffered a few years ago, his body-now five years clean and sober-more closely resembles that of a trim 22-year-old than that of an aging rocker with a lifetime of substance abuse behind him.
"I feel great," says Osbourne. "My big thing right now is working out-I'm a fitness fanatic. I work out four or five hours a day-and I actually get a buzz from it. I don't even go out much anymore.
"The truth is that I don't know why I'm alive today."
Not all of the setbacks Ozzy has suffered over the years have been life-threatening. Some, like the tragic 1982 death of guitarist Randy Rhoads, were merely career-threatening. Ozzy was faced with yet another major hurdle earlier this year when he was forced to sever his working relationship with long-time guitarist Zakk Wylde, who seemed more interested in filling the vacancy in Guns N' Roses than touring with Ozzy this fall. But if there's one rocker who has the Midas touch when it comes to finding new talent, it's Ozzy-and he feels the 30-year-old Holmes may just be his greatest find since Randy Rhoads.
"Even though I've only been playing with Joe for a short time," says Osbourne, "the truth is that this band could get up on stage right now and smoke any other band I've ever had. I don't know much about Joe's history and I don't care-all I know is that he plays like a motherfucker."
GUITAR SCHOOL: I guess it's safe to say you're not retired anymore.
OZZY OSBOURNE: When I retired after the last tour-which lasted about a fucking week-I went home, gained a stack of weight, bought motorcycles and guns and all this other shit. Then I started doing things I'd always wanted to do. I bought a football and played football with my son. I really enjoyed being a dad...for about a week. Then Sharon [Osbourne, his wife and manager] said to me one day, "Is that it now? Are you finished?" She let me get all these things out of my system-then she asked me what I wanted to do. And I said, "I want to get a band, man." [laughs]
GS: So how have you been feeling? How's your health?
OSBOURNE: I'm feeling great-I haven't touched a drink or used drugs in over five years. I'm at this stage in my life right now where I don't miss it, but at the same time I'm not one of these guys that says everybody should be sober. Hey, if you want to get fucked up and get stoned, it's your business.
GS: What made you finally want to stop drinking?
OSBOURNE: I don't know. I wanted to stop drinking every day, but I couldn't because I was feeling so dreadful from the day before-and the only way to feel better was to drink. It's been over five years now, and I don't count the days and I don't care. I don't go to AA, but I do see my therapist from time to time. There are things that you miss out on without realizing it while you're drinking. Like the other day my little daughter was in a school play, and I actually sat through the whole thing-but in the old days I would have been all antsy, getting up and down, going to take a piss and walking around. When we got back in the car, I said to Sharon, "You know what? I don't know what's happening, but I'm really beginning to like life."
GS: Let's discuss what happened with Zakk Wylde. I get the impression that things between you didn't exactly end on a great note.
OSBOURNE: Well, it didn't end on a good note, but it didn't end on a bad one either. What happened was, I asked Zakk to come and play on the record [Ozzmosis], and he did. And he played great. But then this whole Guns N' Roses thing happened. So I said to him one day, "Zakk, before you hear it from somebody else, I want you to know that I will be auditioning guitarists to do the tour with me, because I guess you're not coming back. So don't be alarmed if you hear about it." That night, he called Sharon and said, "What's the matter, doesn't Ozzy like my playing anymore?" So I said to him, "Zakk, are you gonna play with me?" And he couldn't give me a straight answer. Finally, Doug Goldstein, Zakk's manager, called Sharon and said, "Okay, Zakk's in for the tour-send us the contract." And I go, "Yes!" Soon after that, Doug called my wife and said that Zakk was still negotiating with Axl Rose. And I thought, "What the fuck is going on?!" What I gathered was that Zakk was using me as a bargaining chip with Guns N' Roses, and that really got me upset. It wasn't fair because I had always been on the level with Zakk. So I called him and said, "I want to know what you're going to do." And he said, "Just give me the rest of the day." But he never called. The next day, I said to Sharon, "That's it-he's gone. It's over." And it wasn't because I was jealous-hey, if he joins Guns N' Roses and makes a million dollars, fine. All I wanted was a straight answer from him-but he didn't show me that respect.
GS: What was it like while you were recording Ozzmosis-was there any tension between you and Zakk?
OSBOURNE: I really didn't see much of Zakk while we were recording. The way [producer] Michael Beinhorn works is that he concentrates on one thing at a time. Drums, bass, guitar and vocals-everything is in its own slot. So I would come into the studio as Zakk was leaving and I'd say, "Hi Zakk, how'd it go today?" And he'd say, "Oh, fine-just great." And that would be it. It was kind of a sterile environment-much different from the way we did No More Tears.