Gary James' Interview With Ozzy Osbourne Of
Black Sabbath



Outrageous. Controversial. Outspoken. That best describes Ozzy Osbourne. As the lead singer for Black Sabbath, he's been called the King of Heavy Metal, and rightly so. Here's our talk with the King - Ozzy Osbourne.

Q - How did it feel when you left Black Sabbath?

A - It was the happiest day of my life.

Q - Did you save your money?

A - Sure. As it happens I've got more money in the bank than Black Sabbath.

Q - How'd that happen?

A - Because they had to buy the name off me, you know.

Q - At the time you left Sabbath, they were talking about doing jazz.

A - What's Black Sabbath got to do with jazz? If you want to see jazz, go to New Orleans.

Q - You were unhappy with the group's last three albums.

A - I was terribly unhappy.

Q - What direction did you want to see the group go in?

A - I wanted to make music that I know people could relate to. Who knows about Martians? Has anyone ever seen a Martian? Well then what are we writing about Mar­tians for? The whole reason I pulled out of Sabbath was I didn't feel I was giving the people my heart.

Q - I understand Black Sabbath didn't enjoy the road?

A - I'll tell you what it was. It was down to bone idleness. We thought we were bigger than we were.

Q - Why'd you wait a year to release this album?

A - I don't want to sound artificial, but it was my first shot on my own and I was kind of nervous about the whole deal, whether it was gonna be a success or not. We put out a small tour in England to see how the people would react to me with a new band. Believe it or not the album went straight up the charts to No. 7, and the tour was extended seventeen days.

Q - What do you think of your replacement in Sabbath-Ronnie Dio?

A - Ronnie's a good singer. He's a very competent singer. He's great. I gave him the job you know. Good luck to him.

Q - What do you think of your competition -- Van Halen. Styx, Judas Priest, Scorpions?

A - They're all great. You see the thing of it is, heavy metal will never die. Never die.

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