As anticipation builds for Black Sabbath’s forthcoming new album 13, which will arrive on June 11, Ozzy Osbourne has revealed in a post on Facebook, that while working on the record over the last 18 months, he had also relapsed on drugs and alcohol.
“For the last year and a half, I have been drinking and taking drugs,” Osbourne wrote last night. “I was in a very dark place and was an asshole to the people I love most, my family. However, I am happy to say that I am now 44 days sober.”
Ozzy also addressed rumors that he and longtime wife and manager Sharon Osbourne were headed toward a breakup.
“Just to set the record straight, Sharon and I are not divorcing,” he wrote. “I’m just trying to be a better person. I would like to apologize to Sharon, my family, my friends and my band mates for my insane behavior during this period…and my fans.”
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Carmine Appice, drummer for Vanilla Fudge and Cactus, is currently working on the Carmine Appice’s Rockaholics Metal Fan Camp set for August 26-30 at Full Moon Resort in the heart of the “Forever Wild” Catskill Forest Preserve, just one half hour west of Woodstock, New York. Appice will be joined by “camp counselors” including singer-guitarist Eric Bloom (Blue Öyster Cult), drummer James Kottak (Scorpions), guitarist Eddie Ojeda (Twisted Sister), and renowned shredder Michael Angelo Batio.
To celebrate his new Metal Camp, Appice put together his list of the top six heavy-metal drumming songs of all time:
1. “When The Levee Breaks, ” Led Zeppelin
“I always loved the sleazy, heavy drum groove together with the bluesy harp. Just a really cool song with great production.”
2. “We Rock,” Dio
“When I used to go see my brother play that song–and when I heard it on the album–I was blown away. The tempo was great. Ronnie’s voice, the solo, great arrangement–kickass metal!”
3. “Bark at the Moon,” Ozzy Osbourne
“When I played the song live with Ozzy and was involved with the mix, I loved this song. Great hook idea, and the very visual lyrics by Daisley are awesome. Great bass and guitar, and Ozzy sang the crap out of it. Lots of energy in that one.”
4. “Valley of the Kings,” Blue Murder
“John Sykes is a great songwriter. When I heard the demo of this song, I immediately loved it. I used to listen to the demo just for fun. Then after we actually recorded it, the sound that Bob Rock and Mike Fraser got was amazing. Then I liked it even more!”
5. “In the Still of the Night,” Whitesnake
“A great song again with Sykes as a writer. Real cool arrangement, and very ’70s in approach–except very heavy. I still turn the radio up when it comes on!”
6. “Highway To Hell,” AC/DC
“I always liked the simplicity of that song. And the chorus is infectious. The whole band just sounds so great together, with each instrument jelling perfectly to create this amazing heavy groove. Great production as well.”
For more information about Carmine Appice’s Rockaholics Metal Fan Camp, please visit http://carmineappicefancamp.com/.
In anticipation of the upcoming Rock & Roll Roast of Dee Snider, we’re taking a look back at some highlights from last year’s roast of Zakk Wylde.
With Zakk on the hot seat, it seemed a no-brainer to have him roasted by the man who eventually took his place as Ozzy Osbourne’s lead guitarist, Gus G. Take a look at the video below to see how Gus went over with a tough crowd.
Want to attend the live taping of this year’s Rock and Roll Roast of Dee Snider — sponsored by Epiphone and Monster — on Thursday, January 24, at the Grove in Anaheim, California? The Roast is open to the public this year and will air live on AXS TV at midnight ET (9 p.m. PT).
A portion of the proceeds will benefit MusiCares, a nonprofit organization of The Recording Academy that provides emergency financial assistance and addiction recovery resources to music people in need. Snider was recently named one of the 100 greatest living rock stars by Revolver.
Click here for more info on this year’s roast.
We’re proud to announce that we’ll be sponsoring the newly announced Guards of Glory Tour next year, which will be headlined by Finnish folk-metal band Turisas. The tour kicks off February 2, 2013 in Jacksonville, Florida. All the dates can be found below.
Joining Turisas will be American avant-garde metal band Stolen Babies and Greek power-metal superstars Firewind, featuring Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Gus G.
2/2 – Jacksonville, FL @ Roc Bar
2/3 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade – Downstairs
2/5 – Richmond, VA @ Empire
2/6 – New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre
2/7 – Worcester, MA @ Upstairs @ The Palladium
2/8 – Montreal, QC @ Foufounes Electriques
2/9 – Toronto, ON @ The Mod Club
2/10 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
2/11 – Cleveland, OH @ Peabody’s Downunder
2/13 – Minneapolis, MN @ Mill City Nights
2/15 – Denver, CO @ Marquis Theatre
2/16 – Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue
2/18 – Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
2/19 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
2/20 – Portland, OR @ Branx
2/21 – Oakland, CA @ Oakland Metro Operahouse
A new Randy Rhoads biography is available now for $99 from Velocity Publishing Group.
The 400-page, full-color book by Steven Rosen and Andrew Klein features hundreds of rare photographs and samples of memorabilia and chronicles an oral history of Rhoads’ life through the words of the people who knew him. The book is packed with poignant stories about the guitar icon.
Authors Klein and Rosen will host an exclusive book signing and Q&A session 4 p.m. Saturday, September 8, at Book Soup in Los Angeles.
The event will kick off 3 p.m. with a GJ2 guitar giveaway, courtesy of Grover Jackson, who was the founder and owner of Jackson/Charvel. He will give away the first guitar in his new line for the company. Jackson also will give away one Randy Rhoads book to the first 10 people who buy guitars from the new line.
There will be live music by Matt Beal and other giveaways, including 50 limited-edition posters of Rhoads, all of which have never been published (signed/numbered by the respective photographers). This will be the only book-signing venue in Southern California for 2012.
Before his death at age 25, Rhoads was on a fast track to being hailed as one of rock’s best guitarists. Over a two-year period, he recorded two multi-platinum albums with Ozzy Osbourne.
Through his jaw-dropping six-string work on “Crazy Train,” “Mr. Crowley,” “Flying High Again” and other songs, Rhoads achieved legendary status as a guitar icon.
Rhoads’ ability to bridge rock and classical techniques helped him forge a new style of playing. In 1981, Guitar Player magazine honored Rhoads by selecting him as best new talent of the year. The honor only motivated him to work harder.
His life ended March 19, 1982, when he was killed in a small private plane that careened into the garage of a plantation home in Leesburg, Florida. Since then, Rhoads has become a pop culture institution.
For more information about the book or to order, visit the book’s page at Velocity Publishing Group’s website. Check out a video about the book below:
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Earlier today, SiriusXM satellite radio announced that Black Label Society frontman and guitar hero Zakk Wylde will be hosting a weekly talk show centered on sports.
Zakk will be joined by Ken Thomson for Wylde on Sports, which is set to debut September 4 on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio. The show will air weekly through mid-October on Tuesday nights, 9 to 11 p.m. EST.
“I’m excited to join my brother-in-law Ken Thomson every Tuesday night on SiriusXM to recap all of the awesome NFL action, and to find out what in the Wylde world of sports is going on,” Wylde said. “We’ll be hosting an amazing cast of characters from the worlds of sports, music, movies, television and your local bowling alley as we get Wylde On Sports! Yay! Go Team!”
For more info, head here.
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Last night (June 20), only minutes from stage time, Ozzy Osbourne pulled out of a show on his Ozzy And Friends tour in Mannheim, Germany.
The singer chalked it up to “vocal concerns.”
The ill-timed announcement came just after Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society had completed their set — and fans were waiting for Osbourne to hit the stage.
Despite his non-appearance, an Osbourne rep told TMZ that the singer was in a good condition.
Fans at the show, which took place at Mannheim’s SAP Arena, have been asked to check the venue’s website to make sure they receive refunds.
Black Sabbath are currently working on a new studio album and recently announced they have 15 songs written.
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This coming weekend, legendary metal band Black Sabbath will be headlining the U.K.’s Download festival. In the meantime, however, it seems the band have been busy writing material for their upcoming studio album.
“We’ve written about 15 songs so far,” Osbourne recently told NME. “Whether they’ll get on an album … you just keep on writing. I was trying to [futureusgallerywork out]: where would we be now musically if we’d have stayed together?”
He would add, “Next year — 2013 — is a good clue of what we’ll call the album.”
As for Rick Rubin’s role in the production of the new album, it’s clear what direction he’d like to see the band go in.
“He sat us down, put the first album on and said ‘listen to this’,” said bassist Geezer Butler, “imagine it’s 1969, you’ve just done that, what would you do next?”
When completed, the new Sabbath album will be the band’s first to feature Butler, Iommi and Osbourne since 1978′s Never Say Die!
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Last night was the first Ozzy & Friends show of the summer, which featured Ozzy Osbourne performing with a huge range of special guests, including Zakk Wylde, Slash, Gus G, Geezer Butler, Blasko and more.
Since the Ozzy & Friends dates are taking the place of what were due to be Black Sabbath dates before guitarist Tony Iommi was diagnosed with lymphoma, Ozzy broke out a number of Sabbath hits, for which he was joined by bandmate Geezer Butler, as well as Wylde and Gus G. You can check out fan-filmed footage of several cuts from the night’s performances below.
Black Sabbath will headline Download festival next month in England, as well as Lollapalooza this fall in Chicago. The band are also working on a new album, which is tentatively due out by year’s end.
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Greek power metal band Firewind — who feature in their ranks current Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Gus G — are now streaming their new album, Few Against Many, online. You can listen here, courtesy of Guitar World, and be sure to tell us what you think in the comments.
“I want us to re-invent our sound a little bit and although the big melodies and hooks that we’re known for are still there, we’ve added a bunch of new elements to the game,” guitarist Gus G Guitar World back in August. “Much heavier stuff this time, lots more riffing, different arrangements and things like that. Oh yes, and of course there’s gonna be enough shredding!”
Few Against Many is out May 22.
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