Ozzy Osbourne Announces First Solo Album In 10 Years, 'Ordinary Man'

Do we really have Post Malone to thank for a new Ozzy Obsourne album? The Prince of Darkness, now 70, sang (and killed) the vocal hook on "Take What You Want" from this past summer's Hollywood's Bleeding, apparently at the behest of his daughter.

It all started when Kelly [Osbourne] comes in and says, "Do you want to work on a Post Malone song?" My first thing was "Who the f*** is Post Malone?!" I went to Andrew [Watt]'s house and he said, "We will work really quick." After we finished that song, he said, "Would you be interested in starting an album?" I said, "That would be f****** great," but now I am thinking I don't want to be working in a basement studio for six months! And in just a short time, we had the album done.

Ordinary Man will come out sometime early 2020, featuring Guns N' Roses' Duff McKagan on bass, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith on drums and Andrew Watt, Post Malone's producer, on guitar. Osbourne's first solo album in a decade comes in the midst of a massive reissue campaign (a good reminder that the one-two punch of Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman, featuring guitarist Randy Rhoads, are worth revisiting).

Oh, and you have heard that Black Sabbath reformed, recorded 13 and went on a two-year farewell tour titled The End Tour. Ozzy stays busy.

"Under the Graveyard" is Ozzy Osbourne in a typically morbid mode. With finger-picked acoustic guitar, a slick-sounding hard-rock riff and copious studio effects, there's also just a touch of oohs and ahhs to make the chorus pop: "It's cold in the graveyard / We all die alone." It sounds like Ozzy and, remarkably, Ozzy's voice can still tear through your soul.

Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.