Source: Blabbermouth
Paul Lester of The Guardian recently conducted an inter view withBLACK SABBATH members Tony Iommi (guitar), Ozzy Osbourne (vocals) and Terry “Geezer” Butler (bass). A few excerpts from the chat follow below.
On whether they believe in God:
Butler: “I do when I’m on a plane — the first thing I do is say my prayers.”
Ozzy: “I’ve done a good job of trying to kill myself for 64 years. But something’s kept me alive. I don’t know if it’s God, fate or whatever. I’m open-minded. But I don’t believe in organized religion at all.”
On the few myths surrounding BLACK SABBATH, including the one aboutOzzy biting off the head of a live bat, which he had presumed was rubber, in 1982:
Ozzy: “We were never really into the occult. It was a hobby, until we started getting invites to black-magic rites in cemeteries. Then I got accused of doing this and biting that and there would be people picketing the arena with banners. But if you listen to the lyrics, there’s nothing that’s pro-black magic or pro-satanic worship. It’s like God Is Dead? — at the end it says: ‘I don’t believe that God is dead,’ but they only hear the words ‘God is dead.'”
On Ozzy not being focused in the studio during the band’s early years:
Butler: “You can’t write or play songs if you’re out of your brains . But because [Osbourne] didn’t have to play an instrument, while we were writing he’d be in the bar getting legless or doing all kinds of things.” The latter included relentless pleasure-seeking, leading to blackouts.”
Ozzy: “I didn’t believe it when they said I had blackouts. I’d look at my watch and it would say four o’clock. Then I’d look again and it would say 9:30. I’d totally forget where I’d been or what I’d done. But then you don’t think about that before you start drinking. You don’t think: ‘I wonder what jail I’ll wake up in tomorrow?’ Because that’s not your intention.”
On BLACK SABBATH‘s “13” being the most important record of Ozzy‘s career:
Ozzy: “Yes, we’ve had our disagreements. We all said bad things and did our different trips, but it’s great to be with the guys. The last time [2001] it didn’t gel. But this time it worked out better than our wildest expectations. For Tony to come up with riffs like these is unbelievable. He deserves a medal because if I’d been diagnosed with lymphoma I’d have gone ‘Fuck this,’ and gone back to bed with a bottle of morphine. But we kept on going because we knew this was probably our last hurrah.”
Read the entire interview from The Guardian.