Ozzy Osbourne's new album Patient Number 9 is officially here, and the rock icon opened up about the project and more during an interview with Rock 955's Klinger on iHeartRadio.
Patient Number 9 is Ozzy's 13th solo album, following 2020's Ordinary Man, and showcases 13 new songs including guest appearances from artists like Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Tony Iommi, Dave Navarro and more, while the record was produced by Andrew Watt. Other musicians featured as performers on the new album include Foo Fighters' Taylor Hawkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith, and Josh Homme, among others.
Osbourne says that working on Patient Number 9 is what "kept [him] going during the pandemic," and it was Watt who suggested working with some of the featured artists. He explained to Klinger, "I was never one to do these all-star albums. Andrew talked me into it, but it turned out really good."
Jeff Beck is featured on "A Thousand Shades," and his guitar solo is one Ozzy can never forget. He said, "Every morning I wake up with that guitar solo in my head. It's really catchy. And yeah, I was told he can't write songs. He can play other people's songs, but he can't write for some reason. I kind of find that weird. How can somebody play so great and not be able to write a song?"
Since having major surgery on his neck, many of Ozzy's fellow rockers have been reaching out to him, which has made him feel supported by his friends. He explained, "Since I've had my surgery and I've been recuperating from that, Tony Iommi's been contacting me regularly by text, Slash has been keeping me going, Jonathan from Korn has been... You'll be surprised what a phone or a text or a message will do. I was pretty miserable for a few months, you know? And it lifted me a up a little."
Ozzy also reunited with his Black Sabbath bandmate Tony Iommi on a few songs on Patient Number 9 — "No Escape From Now" and "Degradation Rules" — and Osbourne said of rocking out with Iommi again for the first time on a solo album, "Tony, in all the years I've known him, I've known him since I was 11. And in all the years I've known him, I've never had such a close a relationship with him." He added, "I mean, we've both sort of been through the wars a bit, you know? And you know, the funniest thing, every member of Black Sabbath is still alive. We're all still alive."
And for Ozzy fans that want to see the rocker back out on the road again - he has the full intention to do so. He explained:
"That's what I'm heading for, because I'm hoping we're still well enough to tour. As soon as I finish this [album] promotion, I'm hoping... I'm doing an NFL thing tomorrow night in Los Angeles opening up the season. And I'm down to get in some physical exercising and going all out to get myself back on my feet. It's just a bit stiff and it's awkward right now. I had two more surgeries. The first one, that guy screwed me up. And I don't think I'll be 100% to the way I would be. I haven't got the confidence. I lose my balance, you know. So I got to get my confidence up. I'll do it. I mean, I've overcome drug addiction and alcohol addiction and tobacco, I'm sure I can give it a good effort and get going. I need it, you know, I need to get back on the stage."
Osbourne added, "I mean, what am I going to do, sit on my ass all day looking out the window? It's not Ozzy Osbourne, man. I mean, it never will be. People say to me, 'When do you think you're going to be retired?' And I go, 'When I start to smell the lid of the pine box.' I mean, you can't retire from this. It's your passion. How can you retire from having fun?"