Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne always fears his voice will “blow out” before a gig.
The 67-year-old rocker has played plenty of shows in his life, both solo and with his band Black Sabbath. While he always manages to get the crowd going with his energetic performances, Ozzy can’t stop worrying about the chance his vocals will disappear before he steps out on stage.
“I’m just hoping that my f**king voice doesn’t blow out, you know?” he told Kerrang! magazine. “Like, if you’re playing a guitar and the guitar breaks, you can just get another one, but a singer’s only got one voice. People say that you can fix it with Pro Tools or whatever, but no! not me! I have every f**king thing before I go on stage – tea, steam machines, throat sprays, lozenges, chewing gum… F**king everything!”
The next big concert in store for Ozzy and his Black Sabbath bandmates is Download Festival in the U.K., where the group is playing on Saturday (11Jun16). As the whole event is outside the musician is wary of the weather, admitting his first thought when encountering rain and mud is to “get out of there”. He admires the fans’ camaraderie though, as they’re the ones who have to stand in torrential downpours.
“I remember seeing a bunch of kids on a grass verge in the middle of the road in the p**sing rain, huddling under a blanket, and I just thought, ‘F**k, you’re braver than I am!’ But that keeps something alive, I think, that spirit,” he added.
Black Sabbath’s appearance at the festival is part of the band’s European leg of The End Tour, and the rockers move to North America on 17 August (16). Quizzed on how long he thinks the group will continue to play together for, Ozzy insists he has no plans to slow down yet.
“I was thinking, ‘Why do we have to stop this now?!'” he recalled on his return from playing in New Zealand in April (16). Tony (Iommi, guitarist) has had enough, I think. But it’s always the same, just as you decide to end it, you realise you’re having the time of your life.”
Black Sabbath has gone on hiatus several times over the years, with the last reunion resulting in the band’s 19th album, 13, released in 2013.