It’s obvious that Ozzy is closer to the end than the beginning of his career, although we’re not certain whether he’s immortal at this point. Nonetheless, he’s releasing yet another album this September. There’s now only a 2-year gap between records, continuing his streak with the previous gap being 10 years after 2010’s “Scream.”
And this one seems like it’s going to be really big. The 2020’s “Ordinary Man” album was in a completely different style yet it had some pretty exciting guests, including Elton John. However, “Patient Number 9,” slated for September 9 release, will have a plethora of some of the biggest names in rock music, including his Black Sabbath bandmate Tony Iommi, Jeff Beck, Robert Trujillo, and even none other than Eric Clapton among others.
Speaking of Clapton, the musician will appear in a song titled “One of Those Days.” But as Ozzy explained in a recent interview with the Classic Rock magazine, the legendary blues guitarist wasn’t happy about a particular lyric in this collaborative song.
Reflecting on the issue, Ozzy explained:
“[Clapton] said, ‘Oh, I’m not sure about that lyric.’ So we tried to replace it with some alternatives. We did ‘One of those days where I don’t believe in Christmas,’ but it didn’t sound right. Losing faith in Jesus makes much more sense when the world is turning to shit.”
Of course, saying “Christmas” instead of “Jesus” probably wouldn’t get the message across as effectively. The singer further elaborated:
“It’s not an ‘I Am an Anti-Christ’ song. It’s about those days where everything goes fucking wrong, and you’re going nuts trying to fix everything up.”
Ozzy also adds “I think that song and the whole album turned out great.” But we’re yet to hear this one as a couple of others were released as singles so far.
The aforementioned 2-year gap, which was significantly shorter compared to the previous 10-year gap, came as a surprise to many. Discussing the matter, Ozzy said:
“One of the reasons I made this record is so that people don’t forget me, and by hook or by crook I’ll be onstage again one day to say ‘thank you’ to the fans. If I can’t, I can’t, but my desire is strong.”
Photo: Kyle Overholtzer (Ozzy Osbourne 2008-03-15), Steve Proctor (Eric Clapton 01May2015)
