Ozzy Osbourne didn’t know who Post Malone was before collaborating with him but his experience with the rapper has helped change his life.
Posty released his latest album, Hollywood’s Bleeding, earlier this month and after listening to the track Take What You Want fans started to commend the artist for ‘discovering’ Ozzy, who features on the song.
I don’t know about you, but hearing about these kinds of comments from oblivious young music lovers made me feel extremely old because obviously the 70-year-old has been a music legend for decades.
However, Ozzy himself proved musical knowledge is very dependent on your generation as in an interview with The Sun he admitted he’d ‘never even heard of’ Malone before Take What You Want. He was also baffled by the concept of streaming and downloading music, and ‘thought [Spotify] was a skin problem where you woke up spotified.’
The collaboration came about after Ozzy spent months in hospital following a fall in his home. In 2003, the Black Sabbath frontman had a quad bike crash which resulted in metal rods having to be put in his body. The recent fall dislodged the rods and the 70-year-old was in a bad place in the aftermath.
Recalling the incident, he said:
I got up in the night and went to the bathroom but it was pitch black, so I went down with a slam!
I thought I was paralysed. I didn’t freak out, I just lay there knowing it was really bad. Sharon [Osbourne] came down and I told her to phone for an ambulance. I went straight in and had an MRI.
I then didn’t leave for months. I needed surgery to cut through the nerves.
Though he’s still recovering, Ozzy agreed to collaborate with Posty on his track and as a result he started making new music of his own.
He explained:
I’d never even heard of this kid. He wanted me to sing on his song Take What You Want, so I did and then one thing led to another. I started recording a new album with Post Malone’s producer Andrew Watt.
It’s only nine tracks but it was a catalyst to get me to where I am today.
The singer finished the album in four weeks, explaining he ‘thought he was dying’ before getting stuck into the project, which ‘has helped get [him] back on track.’
He added:
I was just lying in my own self-pity for months. It’s the greatest album I’ve done.
He admitted recovery is a long process but said he is determined to get back on stage.
While Post Malone can’t take credit for discovering the singer he was somewhat involved with his comeback, so I imagine Ozzy Osbourne is grateful to have been introduced to him, even if he’s a bit late to the party.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.