Ozzy Osbourne – Tony Iommi Used to ‘Intimidate the S**t Out of Me’

One look at the credits on the Ozzy Osbourne Patient Number 9 album and it's easy to be intimidated by the lineup, but being wowed by his collaborators is nothing new for Osbourne who has shown some humility for those he's playing with, including his onetime Black Sabbath bandmate Tony Iommi. As Ozzy tells Apple Music's Zane Lowe, "He used to intimidate the shit out of me."

When asked by Lowe if that played into his eventual split with Black Sabbath during their initial run, Ozzy responded, “I just felt like they were the musicians, and I was the singer, and I didn’t have that much to say what went down, you know? The only thing I did was try to put a melody on there. I couldn’t do it, because it was just too out of my range, you know?”

Osbourne admits some of those insecurities didn't really cease when he reunited with Black Sabbath either, adding, “The tours were like stepping back for me. It was the same old thing… Tony would say, ‘It’s not an Ozzy show, it’s not your band.’ And [there was] a lot of unsettlement. I didn’t enjoy [it], you know.”

“There was a period of time where we were arch-enemies," Ozzy admitted, but he reveals that they are on much better terms these days.

"Since I’ve been laid up with this surgery I’ve had, he’s been so supportive to me; he texts me all the time, we text each other. And we just ended the Commonwealth Games together. It’s really nice to be friendly with someone.”

Iommi appears alongside Osbourne on the track "No Escape From Now" on the Patient Number 9 album. He's part of a guest list that includes Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Zakk Wylde, Mike McCready, Josh Homme, Robert Trujillo, Chad Smith, Duff McKagan, Chris Chaney and Taylor Hawkins.

Osbourne's Patient Number 9 is out now, available in a variety of formats at this location.

Ozzy Osbourne Speaks With Apple Music's Zane Lowe

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