Ozzy Osbourne Talks Future With Black Sabbath, Band's Early Days

In the new issue that's on sale now, Ozzy Osbourne tells Rolling Stone about some of the most incredible stories in his new memoir I Am Ozzy, from freaking out Betty Ford to the worst days after his reality show. Since today is the anniversary of one of Ozzy's most infamous moments — he bit the head off a bat onstage in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 20, 1981 — we asked him to reach back into his memory banks again, to discuss Black Sabbath. The group hasn't toured with Ozzy since the summer of 2005, but has recently been battling over the band's name rights. Despite the ongoing lawsuit, is another reunion possible? "I'm not gonna say I've written it out forever," says Osbourne. "But right now I don't think there is any chance. But who knows what the future holds for me? If it's my destiny, fine."

Check out Rolling Stone's collection of Black Sabbath photos.

Ten years ago the group entered the studio and tried to record their first album together since 1978's Never Say Die. "I tried and I couldn't do it," says Ozzy. "When we were kids we used to smoke dope, we all used to get drunk, we all used to do fucking cocaine, and any other fucking pill in the arsenal. It would stall all our fucking inhibitions. And I've changed now that I've been away from Sabbath thirty-odd years. I was only with them for 10 years. I had girlfriends when I was younger and I would go 'Oh, I would really like to go back with Shirley,' and then you do and you go to yourself, 'What the fuck was I thinking?' You're never the same, you know."

In the past few years Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler have toured with early 1980s Sabbath vocalist Ronnie James Dio under the moniker Heaven and Hell. Although Dio is currently undergoing chemotherapy for stomach cancer in Houston, his Website reports the cancer was identified in its early stages and his chances for a complete recovery are good. Heaven and Hell even have European shows booked this summer. "I'm sorry to hear about Ronnie having cancer," says Ozzy. "It must be really fucking scary for the poor boy."

Related Stories:
• Ozzy Osbourne's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Q&A
• The Immortals: Black Sabbath by Dave Navarro
• Ozzy Osbourne Releases Statement on Black Sabbath Suit

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Great Gatsby' Is a Crushing Disappointment
• 
  TV Why You Should Watch 'Happy Endings'
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“All Along the Watchtower”

The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 1968

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter