Ozzy Osbourne was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by British GQ magazine, as part of their Men of the Year issue. And, as part of the achievement, they released a new photo shoot, where Ozzy is showing off those gray roots, and looking like a boss.
The feature also includes a video (at the bottom of the post) and an extensive new interview with many highlights. Here are some of the best parts.
Ozzy offered a health update and explanation of how he got injured in the first place: "The surgery I had knocked the crap out of me. But I broke my neck in a quad bike accident [in 2003] and when that healed it squeezed my spinal column, so I was getting all kinds of weird things happening to me. I’d be on stage and I’d suddenly get a sharp shock down one side of my body. Then one night 18 months ago I went to the bathroom in the dark and just hit the ground. I said, “Sharon, I’m on the floor,” and she said, “Well, get up then!” But I couldn’t. Once you’re 70, the floodgates open and everything goes downhill. Mind you, I’ve got away with it for a long time."
Ozzy also is keeping safe. "I try my hardest. If I go out I wear a mask, but I don’t like wearing a mask, so I don’t go out much. The producer on my album [Andrew Watt] got the virus. I’d phone him up every day and he said he couldn’t sleep, because as soon as he went to sleep he’d stop breathing. He’s not the same person now… It’s like anyone who’s had a near-death experience: he’s become a bit careful with life. But my two granddaughters caught it and you wouldn’t think they had anything wrong with them. It just bounced off them."
Being a big fan of The Beatles, GQ asked if Ozzy thinks "Helter Skelter" is the first metal song. He disagrees. "Nah. It’s not heavy. It’s just a fast song about a helter-skelter. Maybe you could say “You Really Got Me” by The Kinks or a song by The Who. But I don’t even consider myself as heavy metal. I did a few heavy things but I’ve done melodic things too, ballady things."
Ozzy did however feel that Sabbath had an influence on punk. "Punk was a spinoff of Sabbath. It was anti-Establishment. The only band of them I liked was the Sex Pistols; that one album was great, it captured something. But Johnny Lydon, whatever his name is, wants to stop talking and make some fucking music."
Ozzy on religion: "I’ve tried reading the Bible but it’s in a fucking language that I don’t understand. Someone should do a version in my language: “And so Jesus said, ‘Fuck off!’ And lo, they all fucked off.”"
The highlight for me was reading Ozzy retell the story of meeting Queen Elizabeth for the first time. "When I met her [at Party At The Palace for her Golden Jubilee in 2002] she looked at me and said [adopts posh voice], “Hello. So this is what they call variety, is it?”"
The whole interview is worth reading. It also features some stunning photo editorial. See it here.
