Ozzy Osbourne‘s new solo single, “Straight to Hell,” opens with a reference to a classic Black Sabbath song, but the Metal Madman apparently wasn’t sure about it at first.
“Straight to Hell,” which is featured on the upcoming Ozzy solo album Ordinary Man, begins with the Prince of Darkness declaring “Alright now!,” just like he did on the 1971 Sabbath track, “Sweet Leaf.” According to Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, who plays on Ordinary Man, he had convince Osbourne to keep the line in.
“We told him, we were, like, ‘Dude, you have to…that’s you!'” Smith tells ABC Audio.
“[Ozzy] was, like, ‘I’ve done that!'” the drummer recalls. “And I’m, like, ‘Yeah, but that’s you! You own that s***!’ And he was, like, ‘Oh! OK, OK!'”
Smith adds that there’s a similar moment to the “Alright now” line on another Ordinary Man song featuring Post Malone, with whom Ozzy collaborated on the single “Take What You Want.”
“We had [Ozzy] do, like, ‘Let me see your f***ing hands!'” Smith laughs. “All his classic ad-libs. It’s just great.”
Ordinary Man, the follow-up to 2010’s Scream, was also recorded with Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, and features additional guest spots from Slash, Elton John and Tom Morello. It’s due out February 21.
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
