On Monday, August 8th, Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi held a partial Black Sabbath reunion at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in their hometown of Birmingham, England.
Osborune and Iommi, along with drummer Tommy Clufetos and bassist Adam Wakeman, performed their classic song "Paranoid". Video footage, courtesy of YouTube user Solid Gold Hits can be enjoyed below. This surprise performance marked the first time Osbourne and Iommi played onstage together since the last Black Sabbath show in 2017, which was also in Birmingham, England.
Ozzy Osbourne has released an official visualizer for his new single, "Degradation Rules", which features a guest appearance by Black Sabbath bandmate Tony Iommi. The song is taken from Ozzy's new album, Patient Number 9, which is due to be released on September 9th.
Working with producer Andrew Watt for the second time, Ozzy welcomed a dynamic A-list supporting cast on Patient Number 9. The record boasts guitarists Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, and longstanding righthand man and six-string beast Zakk Wylde who plays on the majority of the tracks. For the bulk of the album, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers held down drums, while the late Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters made an appearance. Old friend and one-time Ozzy band member Robert Trujillo of Metallica plays bass on most of the album’s tracks, with Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses and Chris Chaney of Jane’s Addiction supplying bass on a few songs. For the first time ever, Black Sabbath co-founder, guitarist, and riff-lord Tony Iommi appears on an Ozzy solo album.
Pre-order Patient Number 9 here.
Tracklisting:
"Patient Number 9" (feat. Jeff Beck)
"Immortal" (feat. Mike McCready)
"Parasite" (feat. Zakk Wylde)
"No Escape From Now" (feat. Tony Iommi)
"One Of Those Days" (feat. Eric Clapton)
"A Thousand Shades" (feat. Jeff Beck)
"Mr. Darkness" (feat. Zakk Wylde)
"Nothing Feels Right" (feat. Zakk Wylde)
"Evil Shuffle" (feat. Zakk Wylde)
"Degradation Rules" (feat. Tony Iommi)
"Dead And Gone"
"God Only Knows"
"Darkside Blues"
"Patient Number 9" video:
Ozzy Osbourne on Patient Number 9:
Q: This is your first album to be released after the pandemic. What was going through your mind during the early days of the pandemic and are any of those feelings reflected in these songs?
Ozzy: “Well, I was vaccinated and boosted and I still caught Covid in the end. My last album (Ordinary Man) was released just a few weeks before the pandemic started, and I was just about getting ready to go into the studio to work on this new one when the world shut down. It’s no secret that the last four years have been very difficult for me but making this album took my mind off of my problems.”
Q: The album features some players with whom have history. What was it like to be reunited with Tony Iommi musically?
Ozzy: “It was really great working with Tony. He’s the riff master. No one can touch him in that respect. I only wish we had these songs for Black Sabbath’s 13 album.”
Q: Zakk contributes a lot on this album--how was the decision made to have him play since he didn’t play on the last album?
Ozzy: “Zakk is part of my family and always will be. The album needed that weight that his playing provides. He just came in and really sorted things out.”
Q: Tell us about the first single, “Patient Number 9,” which features Jeff Beck. What do you feel he has contributed to the song?
Ozzy: “The song is about a mental institution. Having someone like Jeff Beck play on my album is just incredible, a total honor. There’s no other guitar player that plays like him and his solo on ‘Patient Number 9’ is just jaw-dropping.”
