Ozzy Osbourne and Elton John Duet Makes Sharon Osbourne Cry
Sharon Osbourne said she found “Ordinary Man,” Ozzy Osbourne’s duet with Elton John, too emotional to listen to all the way through.
The title track of Osbourne’s upcoming album was released last week, featuring John singing the second verse of a Beatles-inspired track. The lyrics discuss the challenges of the Black Sabbath icon’s life, while Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash contributes two solos.
“I’m just so happy for Ozzy that it’s been well-received,” Sharon said on her TV show The Talk (via Music-News.com). “I can’t listen to it all the way because it makes me cry. I just can’t.”
She added that the single artwork, which shows Ozzy walking alone in a field, was taken by their son Jack while the pair was shooting their documentary series Ozzy & Jack’s World Detour several years ago. “Jack took that picture, and we just thought it was such a natural shot of Ozzy, like nobody ever sees him like that, that it was just perfect for this song,” Sharon explained.
Listen to Ozzy Osbourne and Elton John's 'Ordinary Man'
The Ordinary Man album came together after Osbourne struggled with depression relating to his inactivity after battling several medical issues.
“If it wasn’t for making this record, I would still be in traction, thinking, ‘I’m going to be lying here forever,'" he said in September. "I’ve missed music so badly. My fans are so loyal and so good. Up until making the album, I thought I was dying. But that got me off my arse. ... It’s the greatest album I’ve done. ... I said to Sharon that I didn’t feel like I’d made an album because we haven’t ended up screaming at each other.”
His old friend John shared similar sentiments when he recently spoke about becoming addicted to drugs in the ‘70s. “Music, from the age of three or four, was my comfort blanket," he said. "And when I was doing terrible things to myself in the '70s and '80s, it was also my comfort blanket. And so it kept me alive. Music has been everything to me. … If I hadn't have had that love of music, I would have died, without question. Because even when I was at the depths of despair, I used to play music all the time.”