In September, Apple forcibly uploaded U2's new album, Songs Of Innocence, to the accounts of iTunes customers worldwide, whether they wanted it or not. In a recent interview with ShortList, Ozzy Osbourne comments on this controversial marketing manoeuvre.

"I think it’s good in one way, and bad in another. People got so pissed off with it, it was terrific. Trying to find out how to delete it off their fucking phones, or whatever. But U2 can afford to put an album out for free, whereas other bands can’t, so it makes it difficult for up-and-coming bands. It’s fucking selfish, really. They just got a zillion fucking sales from Apple, I suppose. Not everyone is U2, not everyone can get a fucking deal with Apple. There are a thousand bands out there today that aren’t going to get heard by fucking anybody because they can’t afford to do it."

During the same Q&A; session, the topic of the 9/11 terrorist attacks came up.

"(Former US President) George Bush, I never quite got his deal. The thing is, I don’t suppose he expected World War 3 to begin when he got voted in, did he? It was a bit of a shocker, a kick in the pants. He hadn’t been in office more than five minutes and 9/11 went down. We were in New York when that happened!

I wasn’t scared, I was excited! It was my kind of craziness, y’know. The day after that happened, there was fucking nobody in New York. I remember standing on the steps of the hotel, and – you know when you see an old cowboy film and that tumbleweed rolls past on the ground? There was newspapers just floating around on the streets. It was so fucking weird. Everybody just backed off Manhattan because they didn’t know if it was an all-out thing or what. But I hope this Isis lot don’t get going. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s in mankind to try to kill each other for one thing or another. And I think sooner or later one of these crazy fuckers is going to get a nuclear weapon or some fucking thing, and fuck a lot of people up. That’s in our nature. I hope it won’t happen, but it looks like it could happen if they get it."

Ozzy has just released the following statement in regard to the story described above.

“Firstly, I never spoke to The Mail Online.  Several quotes were pulled from another interview I did for The Shortlist that was posted earlier in the day and were taken out of context to create The Mail Online story [about 9-11].  I apologize to anyone who may see these quotes and believe this is actually how I feel.  Please know that I would never want to offend or hurt anyone - that was never or would ever be my intention.  You would think that at my age I would finally realize that any conversation with a journalist can be twisted, reprinted and made into another story. It's another life lesson learned.

My representatives have asked The Mail Online to pull the piece, but of course, they’ve refused and now it has been subsequently picked up worldwide because of the sensational slant The Mail Online put on the story.

Love and peace to everyone.  May your God go with you.”

In other news, check out these interviews with Ozzy band members discussing Ozzy and the Memoirs Of A Madman double DVD set coming out October 14th.

The Memoirs Of A Madman is a definitive visual two-disc DVD set which includes classic music videos, along with unreleased and out-of-print live performances, plus interviews from his solo career.