After lying low for the past couple years, Ozzy Osbourne’s back and firing on all cylinders. He currently has projects in both the literary and music fields and is rumored to be venturing into film with a biopic of his life. Someone of his means and stature might be tempted to rest on his laurels--with five kids, four grandkids, and an infamous four-decade reign as the Prince of Darkness--but not Osbourne, who considers rock ‘n’ roll a veritable fountain of youth.
Apparently he's onto something for Osbourne, at 61, not only kicked off the year writing songs for an upcoming album, but he also branched out with the no-holds-barred tell-all I Am Ozzy, which landed smack at #2 on The New York Times Best Seller list, right up there with books by such notables as New York Magazine journalist John Heilemann and best-selling author Mitch Albom. Kind of like the ragamuffin pulling up a chair at the Queen's banquet that, considering Osbourne is known more for his decapitation of winged critters and throwing televisions out hotel windows than he is his linguistic skills.
Part Angela’s Ashes, part Anvil! The Story of Anvil, I Am Ozzy takes the reader on a journey from Osbourne’s bleak, Dickensian years as a scrappy street kid in the Aston section of Birmingham, England--where he worked through a succession of dead-end jobs that included car-horn tuner, slaughterhouse puke remover, and cow killer--to becoming one of the most enduring names in all of rock 'n' roll. Co-writer Chris Ayres, a Los Angeles correspondent for the Times of London, captures Osbourne's voice in all the f-bomb-dropping befuddledment that made him the darling of MTV and a household name back in 2002. I Am Ozzy is an absorbing, hilarious read that at last sets the record straight on the many controversies, addictions and accidents that have colored Osbourne's life.
In addition to penning his memoirs, Ozzy also put out some new music this year. He contributed vocals to the song “Crucify the Dead” on Slash’s recent release and has a brand new album of original material in the pipeline as well, which is set to drop on June 22nd. Initially titled Soul Sucka but later renamed Scream after some negative fan feedback, the album is Ozzy's tenth studio album and first record since 2007s Black Rain. The lead single, "Let Me Hear You Scream," debuted on April 14th on the television series CSI: New York and has spent 5 weeks on the Billboard Rock Songs, peaking at #12.
Early word on Scream is that the music has a heavier energy than most of Osbourne’s recent work. The album also marks the departure of longtime collaborator and friend, guitarist Zakk Wylde, who Ozzy stresses did not leave as a result of any kind of falling out between the two but because Wylde is tied up with his own band at present. Wylde, who was the fourth guitarist to fill in for Randy Rhoads when he was killed in a tragic plane crash in 1982, joined Ozzy back in 1988 and is himself being replaced by Firewind guitarist Gus G. "He's a great player," Obsourne says of Gus. "I've got high hopes for him." Also onboard for the new album is former Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper drummer Tommy Clufetos who steps in for Mike Bordin after Bordin's 15-year run with Ozzy.
Ozzy hits the road in August for a six-date Ozzfest run, headlining with Mötley Crüe, the first time the two bands have toured together since 1984 during the Crüe's breakthrough appearance as Ozzy's opening act. Ozzfest 2010 kicks off August 14th in San Bernardino, California (the birthplace of the first Ozzfest in 1996), and then make stops in Chicago, Illinois; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Hartford, Connecticut; Camden, New Jersey; with a final stop in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 24th. Osbourne will then embark on an 18-month world tour in support of Scream, his longest tour ever.
Before the year is out, Ozzy is also set to release reissues of his legendary first two solo albums, 1980s Blizzard of Ozz and 1981s Diary of a Madman, which he will follow up with--wait for it now--a Christmas album titled Black Christmas.
And then there’s that motion picture of his life story that’s being kicked around. Although Johnny Depp had once been rumored to be playing the lead, no actor has officially been attached to the project, although Osbourne is pushing for an unknown to play him, and preferably a Brit, as he thinks Americans do a poor English accent. And yes, there’s talk of a sequel to I Am Ozzy.
As for any future with his Black Sabbath bandmates, who last toured as a group in 2005 and again reunited to perform at their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2006, Osbourne likens the possibility to revisiting an old love saying, "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 **** was I thinking?'" Osbourne, however, will not go so far as to rule out another tour with his mates from Aston. "I'm not gonna say I've written it out forever, but right now I don't think there is any chance. But who knows what the future holds for me?”
