(Credits: Apple Music)
Wed 14 January 2026 20:11, UK
One of the most confusing elements of Ozzy Osbourne was always how humble he could be.
The man was a living legend and the godfather of metal, and yet he seemed to be the one person at every one of his shows happy to be having a good time and not taking an ounce of it seriously. For him, work was always about having fun, so when he brought in someone to work on one of his records, there had to be some moments when his special guests had him shaking in his boots a little bit.
Because when you really break it down, it’s not like ‘The Prince of Darkness’ was the most flexible singer in the world. He had an impressive vocal range, but he wasn’t going to be singing easy listening tunes like Paul McCartney could or reach for the same howling registers that you would find on Soundgarden records by the end of his career. It’s easy to work around his voice in a bluesy context, though, and every single person he worked with understood the assignment when working on his records.
People like Lita Ford and Lemmy may have been on opposite ends of the musical spectrum compared to Osbourne, but when listening to their respective songs, there’s hardly a single note out of place whenever Osbourne starts singing. He had that kind of music down to a science, but for someone who was well-studied in the blues, there was always going to be a little trepidation when it came to playing with the true icons.
Then again, Osbourne had no reason to worry. Black Sabbath’s credentials were good enough that John Bonham wanted to perform with them, and even when looking at the way that he worked in the 1980s, he got a pat on the back from people like Paul McCartney, but when someone like Jeff Beck walks into any studio, there’s typically a hush that falls over every single person in attendance.
Like Osbourne, Beck was a one-off on guitar, but if Osbourne showed everyone how dark things could get, Beck was bringing different shades to rock that no one had ever seen before. There were pieces of his catalogue that don’t even sound like they’re being played on guitar at times, so when Osbourne was getting the players ready for his final album, Patient Number 9, the idea of getting Beck to jam on one of his tunes felt out of the question.
Even when producer Andrew Watt floated the idea, Osbourne felt like there was no way the guitar hero would say yes, saying, “Andrew kept on throwing out all these other names. Eric Clapton this. Jeff Beck that. I was like, ‘This guy is out of our league man. They’re megastars.’ I mean, so was Elton [John], but he was one of Sharon’s closest friends. The crazy thing was, though, they all said yes.”
While no one could have predicted that the album would end up being Osbourne’s last, you can hear Clapton’s flashiness on full display as well. Even though he’s nowhere near the kind of heavy metal icon that Osbourne is, ‘Slowhand’ was no stranger to a heavy groove, and hearing him playing with Osbourne almost makes too much sense, especially considering how big of an influence Cream was on the early days of Sabbath. Legend has it that Beck would record by himself so no one would see what he was playing, but Clapton was the kind of person that could make the guitar sing no matter who was in the room with him.
And Osbourne never took a second from those legends for granted whenever he made a record. He was already blessed with having collaborators from his generation, but it’s the sign of a truly great musician when even the legends from generations before can see the importance of what you’ve done.
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