Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne Promote Cause, Talk Smack, Earn Laughs

Ozzy Osbourne made an appearance with his wife Sharon at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City today to promote a T-shirt he's designed for Signature Series, all the proceeds from which will benefit the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program. Ozzy, who says he's "always doodling" (and showed us the smiley face doodle he has tattooed on his knee) also took time to make jokes (claiming that Sharon is his favorite artistic collaborator,) ponder other careers (he'd be in "prison" if he weren't a rocker, he said,) and to discuss his plans for two new records. "I want to try and do two albums like I did with Diary of a Madman and Blizzard of Ozz, if I can," the Prince of Darkness explained from behind his trademark purple shades. "I've got 24 ideas down right now," he added. Sharon also had a few choice lines for reporters. When asked about Gene Simmons' reality show. Sharon said, "Good luck to him but I have to be truthful, we were the first, we were the best, sorry."

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »

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