While promoting his new hit album, Patient Number 9, Ozzy Osbourne touched upon the lead members of Van Halen. Ozzy spoke about the band, who famously opened for — and according to many — stole the show from Black Sabbath back in 1978. He recalled to Revolver magazine, “(Eddie Van Halen) was such a great guy. They came to our local pub and it was good fun. But David Lee Roth, he’s lost a couple of nuts and bolts. When you meet him, it’s like, ‘What’s wrong with him?’ He’s like somewhere else, y’know?”
Regarding Eddie Van Halen’s long-rumored rivalry with Ozzy’s late, great guitarist Randy Rhoads, Ozzy admitted, “They were arch enemies. Randy didn’t have a lot to say about Eddie. They were very, very similar guitar players. Eddie took that tapping thing to another level. Randy could do that, but he liked people like Leslie West. It amazes me that you get Eddie, you get Randy, and you go, ‘No one’s ever gonna top that.’ But there’s a new thing round every corner.”
Ozzy spoke frankly about his relationship with fellow Black Sabbath co-founder Tommy Iommi — who’s but one of the several guitar legends gracing his new Patient Number 9 album. Ozzy revealed: “Tony, God bless him, he comes to my rescue. And in actual fact, since we’ve made up, he’s been really supportive. Calls me regularly to see how I’m doing.”
He went on to say, “If it wasn’t for Tony Iommi, there never would have been a Black Sabbath. We’ve had arguments, we’ve fallen out, we’ve made up. It’s just like a marriage. You get divorced, you get back together. But Tony Iommi — and I can never deny this — there’s not a man on the face of the earth who comes up with these gutty, dark, heavy riffs. He’s the king of riffs.”
SIDE NOTES
- Ozzy Osbourne‘s latest album, Prisoner Number 9, has debuted big across the Billboard charts.
- The set scored “The Prince Of Darkness” his first Number One hit on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart and sailed to the top spot on the magazine’s Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Hard Rock Albums, Top Current Album Sales, Tastemaker Albums, and Vinyl Albums charts.
- Patient Number 9 also debuted at Number Three on the Billboard 200, selling 52,000 copies in its first week and hit Number Two in the UK — marking Ozzy’s best-charting solo set to date in Britain.
CHECK IT OUT: Ozzy Osbourne with Randy Rhoads on January 7th, 1982 performing “Over The Mountain” live in Albuquerque: