Rob Zombie: First Time Meeting Ozzy Osbourne Was ‘Awesome’ + ‘Uncomfortable’

Every musician must remember the first time they met Ozzy Osbourne. After all, the Prince of Darkness did draw up the blueprint for heavy metal alongside his Black Sabbath bandmates. Rob Zombie recently recalled his first meeting with Ozzy, describing how it was both “amazing” and “uncomfortable.”

Zombie guested on Apple Music’s At Home With podcast, telling Zane Lowe about a near-collaboration with Ozzy Osbourne. “Ozzy is great. I’ve known Ozzy for a long time. We’ve toured together for the first time maybe 20 years ago but I met him before,” Zombie begins. “The first time I met Ozzy was really weird. I’ve told this story before, but not in a long time. And I don’t know. I went to his house, I don’t remember why. And that was where I met him, at his house, and I thought, oh, it’s going to be a bunch of people. My manager will be there. Sharon will be there, whatever. It ends up to just me and Ozzy by ourselves.”

“I just met him. He’s like, ‘Oh, Rob, I want to play you my new record.’ So he puts on his new record, I think he’s going to play one song, maybe. He plays the whole album looking directly at me, singing most of it. And I’m simultaneously thinking, ‘This is awesome, and this is so uncomfortable, I don’t know what to do.’ I get into those situations a lot, unfortunately, it seems. Yeah. Ozzy is great. It sounds so pretentious, but just the way it goes. A lot of times, we’re on a private plane together and Ozzy will tell you the best stories, but I can’t tell, because it’s throwing other rock people under the bus, but they’re good stories.”

Speaking of his heroes, Rob Zombie also talked about getting close with fellow horror rock legend Alice Cooper. “I find that weird sometimes, being very good friends with people that like… When I’m actually on the phone bullshitting with Alice Cooper, I’m like Alice Cooper ruled the world when I was some dopey kid in second grade. The fact that I’m on the phone and we’re like, ‘Hey, what’s going on? Yada, yada.’ That’s always been weird to me. It’s less weird after 20 years.”

Rob Zombie’s new album, The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy Theory, is set for a March 12 release date. Listen to the song “Eternal Struggles of the Howling Man” here and listen to Zombie’s full interview with Apple Music below.