Ozzy Osbourne has announced his new album 'Ordinary Man', which he says is a "gift from a higher power".
Ozzy Osbourne
The former Black Sabbath frontman has kickstarted the launch of his first solo record since 2010's 'Scream', with brand new single 'Under The Graveyard', his first in almost a decade.
The legendary rocker was hospitalised with pneumonia at the beginning of this year, and shortly afterwards suffered a fall at his LA home, which dislodged the metal rods in his spine that had been put in after a quad-bike accident in 2003, which had left him sofa-bound.
Ozzy has credited rapper Post Malone for "saving" him by asking him to appear on his recent single, 'Take What You Want', and as a result of the sessions they had with his producer Andrew Watt, the 'Crazy Train' hitmaker started working on 'Ordinary Man' with the studio wizard.
He said: "This album was a gift from my higher power - it is proof to me that you should never give up."
The new record features Andrew on guitar, Guns N' Roses rocker Duff McKagan on bass and Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith on drums.
On how it all came together, Ozzy, 70, explained: "It all started when [his daughter] Kelly comes in and says 'do you want to work on a Post Malone song?'
"My first thing was 'who the f*** is Post Malone?!'
"I went to Andrew's [Watt] house and he said we will work really quick.
"After we finished that song, he said 'would you be interested in starting an album.'
"I said 'that would be f***ing great, but now I am thinking I don't want to be working in a basement studio for six months!
"And in just a short time, we had the album done.
"Duff [McKagan] and Chad [Smith] came in and we would go in and jam during the day and I would go work out the songs in the evenings.
"I previously had said to Sharon [Osbourne, his wife] I should be doing an album, but in the back of my mind I was going 'I haven't got the ***ing strength ...' but Andrew pulled it out of me.
"I really hope people listen to it and enjoy it, because I put my heart and soul into this album."
The 'Paranoid' singer added how 'Ordinary Man' is "the most important" record he's made in "probably" 28 years.
He said: "This is quite possibly the most important album I have done in a very long time, probably since (1991's) 'No More Tears.'"
Ozzy's wife Sharon recently teased that the record will be released in January, 2020, but an official date is yet to be confirmed.
Tagged in Black Sabbath Ozzy Osbourne Chad Smith