OZZY On SABBATH Reunion: We Decided That If We Were Going To Do This, It Was Our Last Chance

Kevin Courtney of The Irish Times recently conducted an interview with BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

On BLACK SABBATH's enduring influence:

Ozzy: "I remember it was a year or two after my departure from SABBATH, people would come to me and ask me questions about the band, and I didn't realise we had such a huge underground following within the industry. Like, other bands were very influenced by the early works. There was a box-set, 'The Ozzy Osbourne Years', and it just took on its own steam. And I thought people were just taking the piss for the longest time, y'know. I remember METALLICA, before they were the success they were, they were out on tour with me and they were playing BLACK SABBATH songs, and I honestly believed they were taking the piss, and someone said, no, no, no, their biggest influence is BLACK SABBATH. When I was doing the Ozzfests, and bands would come up to me and say, 'you guys were gods to us', I thought, 'wow. The following that we had'."

On working on the new BLACK SABBATH album, "13", a short time after the band's guitarist and main songwriter, Tony Iommi, was diagnosed with lymphoma:

Ozzy: "To be honest with you, I don't know how the guy, after chemotherapy and treatment, still had the ability to do what he fucking did. There may be something to this black magic shit after all!

"Every time we try to do something, something happens to someone. The drummer got a heart attack when we tried to do something a few years ago. I mean, we all decided, if we're all going to do an album together, this is the last chance we're going to get. Unfortunately it didn't work out with Bill Ward, but we did the album."

On drummer Bill Ward's decision to back out of the BLACK SABBATH reunion over contractual disagreements:

Ozzy: "What can I say? It just didn't work out. I mean , I'm not gonna slag Bill, 'cause I love him, but it just didn't work out, y'know. There's only a different drummer on this album, and the drumming is pretty similar to what Bill Ward would have played anyway.

"We all decided that if we were going to do this, this is our last chance, 'cause we're all into our 60s now, and we couldn't do it in another five years, we'd be fucking 70, and then we'd be dead, you know? I said to the others, now is the time to do the album, and do a tour. Otherwise we'll never get a fucking thing done. It's a pity that Bill had to . . . that it didn't work out with Bill. I love the guy, and I'm not going to start slagging Bill Ward, he's a very, very dear friend of mine, like family."

On performing live in his 60s:

Ozzy: "I don't feel any different than when I was 55, or 45. I mean, it's only a number. Your body will start to tell you when to slow down. But I get up most mornings and I go into the gym. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs, I don't womanize, I just do my thing, y'know.

"It's a miracle that I have survived this long. I mean, Gary Moore died there last year. I was fucking shocked. 'Cause Gary wasn't a big party animal. He used to drink beer a bit, but nothing like what I fucking used to do!

"I've been doing it solo for the past 30 years on my own, so the only problem with stepping back is that it's not my band, you know. I'm the singer with a band called BLACK SABBATH. But putting that hat back on is kind of difficult, because 30 years is a long time to be your own boss. I had to just go, OK, I'm not going to complain about anything, because throughout BLACK SABBATH's career, we could never all agree on one thing, you know. So step back, 'cause otherwise it's just going to be another disaster."

On being fired from BLACK SABBATH in the late 1970s and taking Iommi to court in a battle over ownership of the BLACK SABBATH name:

Ozzy: "Listen, we can sit and bicker and fucking moan, but as I said earlier on, if we want to get the album done, forget the differences, get on with it. Shake hands and do it. Because otherwise we're never gonna get the fucking album out, we're never gonna do the tour. You gotta forget your differences. Of course I was pissed off getting fired from the band I helped create. Of course I was upset. It was like a divorce — you can either be really miserable and fucking not want to be in the same room as your ex-wife. Or you can just get on with your life. You can't have it all your own way. It gave me a determination when I got fired to get successful. And I was very lucky."

Read the entire interview from The Irish Times.