Ozzy Osbourne has released two albums in the past two-plus years that have featured some all-star guests. Believe it or not, The Prince of Darkness had reservations about making albums packed with major guests.
Osbourne said to Stereogum in a new interview, “To be perfectly honest with you, I wasn’t a big fan of all-star records, because they get to be f—ing too much, you know? But [producer] Andrew [Watt] pulled it off well. In previous recordings of people having all these celebrities on their record, musically, it lacks a spirit, with all this overplaying that people do. The reason why I used Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton [on my new album] was the fact that they know how to play just enough.”
Watt was able to convince Osbourne to pursue Beck and Clapton for his latest album, Patient Number 9. The album appropriately came out on the 9th of September.
“Andrew suggested them, and I said, ‘I don’t think they’d want to f—ing play on an Ozzy Osbourne record!’ I was very surprised,” said Osbourne. “Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck are two amazing guitar players, you know? But they agreed to play on the record, and what they did was fantastic.”
Osbourne was also thrilled to have Tony Iommi on his album. It’s actually the first time the Black Sabbath guitarist appeared on any Osbourne solo project.
“Since I’ve been laid up with this spinal problem, he’s been very supportive, and it’s been kind of nice,” Osbourne said of Iommi.