Drummer CHAD SMITH Talks New OZZY OSBOURNE Single "Ordinary Man" Featuring ELTON JOHN, SLASH And DUFF McKAGAN - "You've Got The Fucking Avengers Of Rock N' Roll"
January 11, 2020, 4 years ago
Guesting on SiriusXM, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith discussed recording tracks for Ozzy osbourne's new album, Ordinary Man, which is due out on February 21st. He also revealed how Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash and music icon Elton John got involved in the making of the record. Check out the interview below.
Smith on the song "Ordinary Man": "You've got Duff McKagan, Slash, Andrew Watt - the wonderboy producer, writer, hot-shit guy of the moment, great musician - you've got the Prince Of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne, you've got Sir Elton John, and a drummer from some other band. You've got the fucking Avengers of rock 'n' roll, it's so fucking good. And at the end of this song, every time I hear it, there's this string thing at the end. We went to Abbey Road, and it's strings and a choir. It's fucking epic. Every time I hear it, I'm, like, 'And the Grammy goes to...'"
Ozzy Osbourne has set Friday, February 21 as the release date for his new Ordinary Man album. Marking his first new solo music in almost 10 years, the album has been preceded by the release of two singles, the title #1 rock track "Under The Graveyard", which was followed by "Straight To Hell" featuring Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash. Pre-order the album here.
Ordinary Man will be available as a standard CD, deluxe CD, black vinyl, deluxe gatefold swirl color vinyl, picture disc and digital album. In addition, all physical copies of the album will include a unique code that will allow the purchaser to enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win one of over 300 Ozzy prizes (including an official Ozzy laminate to get into any show on the 2020 "No More Tours 2," meet and greets with Ozzy, a gift certificate to the Ozzy global store and much more!) All details on the sweepstakes can be found at ozzy.com.
"It was a lot of fun to do though it's a lot different from my other albums," Ozzy says of the album. "We recorded it quickly, which I haven't done since the first Black Sabbath album. This made it a different process, which I actually enjoyed."
Recorded in Los Angeles, the album features producer Andrew Watt on guitars, Duff McKagan (Guns N' Roses) on bass and Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) on drums. Beyond the core band, Ordinary Man, features a who's-who of Ozzy friends and collaborators including Elton John, Post Malone, and Tom Morello.
"It all just came together," Ozzy explains of the guest stars. "Slash is a dear friend of mine, as is Elton. When I was writing 'Ordinary Man,' it reminded me of an old Elton song and I said to Sharon, 'I wonder if he would sing on it?' We asked and lo and behold, he agreed and sings and play piano on the song."
Videos for the singles, "Straight To Hell" and "Under The Graveyard", can be seen below: