There’s something else, too. This episode of Ozzy’s life reminded him of what good mates he’s got. When asked to be involved, nobody – Duff McKagan, Chad Smith, Slash, Post Malone – needed asking twice. Of course you want to jam with Ozzy, not for the glory, but because he’s Ozzy: The Man; Ozzy: The Lovely, Warm-Hearted, Kind Bloke. Showing us his hand, he reveals the bat tattoo that he got after recording. Andrew, Chad and Kelly all have them as well, a mark of the importance of friendship during the most trying of times (“It’s very Ozzy, innit?” he beams). Performing with Post Malone at the American Music Awards in November was another boost. And away from music, friends checking in and caring about how he’s doing were a blessing.
“I’ll tell you the people who have been great,” he says. “Jonathan [Davis] from Korn, he calls me regularly. Tony Iommi’s kept in touch, Bill Ward’s kept in touch. Slash. It’s been amazing. You find out who cares.”
As the embers in the fireplace glow and the winter twilight begins to darken the windows, it’s oddly quite easy to forget what a legend you’re in the company of. Ozzy is a very easy man to talk to, and he’s incredibly honest with it. As ever, he laughs often, but there’s also no bullshitting in him, and no filter. He hasn’t heard any jokes recently because “nobody tells them over here”, but music wise, he’s keen on Marilyn Manson’s Heaven Upside Down, even giving an evil-faced stanza of The God Of Fuck’s ‘You say God and I say Say-10’ chorus. When we mention his home city of Birmingham dedicating a bench to mark Black Sabbath’s achievements, he hoots in mock disbelief. “A fucking bench?! People will start wearing little gold benches around their necks, now!” And when discussing the past year and the possibility that this could have been, as they say, it, he’s as blunt as ever.
“Do I ever think about when my time’s gonna come?” he ponders. “I think about it; I don’t worry about it. I won’t be here in another 15 years or whatever, not that much longer, but I don’t dwell on it. It’s gonna happen to us all.
“Am I happy now? No. I haven’t got my health,” he continues. “That thing knocked the shit out of me, man, but I’m still here. In fact, I worried about [death] more when I was younger than I do now. I just try to enjoy things as much as possible, even though that’s so fucking hard sometimes.”
And this is what comes through in Ozzy 2020. Playing music with his friends largely for the hell of it has helped immeasurably; a beautiful reminder that even though you may be down you’re by no means out. The album is a gleeful flamethrower to negativity, to lying down and taking it, from a man who has made his name by cheekily not doing what he’s told, and encouraging you to do the same. Yes, parts of his chat today are heavy, but Ozzy is still rock’s greatest bantersaurus, and he unleashes his enormous laugh often. At one point he tells Elvis to “fuck off” when he takes a seat in the exact armchair Kerrang! is in the process of lowering ourselves into, and says that now he feels better than he did.
“If you saw me at the beginning of last year you’d think I was fucked,” he admits. “But I honestly think making this album is the best medicine I could have had. I was doing something, something I like to do. I wish I could do more, but it just felt great.”
READ THIS: An oral history of Black Sabbath: The album that started heavy metal
As our time comes to an end and we head to the front door to leave, Ozzy muses one more poignant thing, something that chimes with the title-track’s assertion over Elton John’s piano that, ‘I don’t wanna die an ordinary man.’ He won’t – hopefully not for
a long time to come – because he hasn’t lived like one. Still doesn’t.
“I always thought I’d be dead by the time
I was 40. That was alright until I got to fucking 39 and three-quarters!” he says. “I never analyse, I just get on with it. When you get past 70 you don’t think, ‘Oh God, I’m doomed.’ It makes you want to live life to the full.”
And for all the obstacles he’s faced, Ozzy Osbourne continues to do just that. Now, come on, let’s all go fucking crazy…
Ordinary Man is out on February 21 via Columbia.