ANYTHING BUT ORDINARY

THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS HAS RETURNED WITH HIS FIRST SOLO ALBUM IN A DECADE, "ORDINARY MAN." WE SPOKE WITH OZZY ABOUT THE ALBUM, THE MYTHS SURROUNDING HIM, HIS LEGACY AND MUCH MORE.

- Charlie Connell

To suggest that Ozzy Osbourne has led an “ordinary” life is one of the most patently ludicrous statements ever made. More than five decades since Black Sabbath’s debut, Osbourne is considered a heavy metal god. He is one of the very few celebrities who is immediately recognizable by first name alone, and his exploits, both on stage and off, are legendary. From micturating upon The Alamo to biting the heads off of various winged creatures, there is no way to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the singer. How much of what we’ve heard about The Prince of Darkness really happened?

“There are so many good stories,” Osbourne laughs. “They’re all true. I’m not proud of it, but I’ve done some fucking stupid crazy things. But I can’t complain, I’m 71 and about to have a No. 1 album, you know?”

That, in and of itself, is far from ordinary. Many of Osbourne’s contemporaries retired from the music business a long time ago. Of those still carrying on, many are simply touring on the strength of their hits from a couple of decades ago. There are practically zero septuagenarian rockers jumping into the studio, with the exception of Osbourne, that is.

It had been almost a decade since Osbourne recorded an album, leaving many fans to believe that he was easing into retirement like so many of his peers. Then a chance encounter with a friend of his daughter Kelly got the ball rolling.

“My daughter said to me, ‘Would you think about doing anything with Post Malone?’” Osbourne says. “I said, ‘Who is Post Malone?’ Then I met him and we did the thing, and it was great.”