In 1995, Ozzy Osbourne and Steve Vai were tasked with collaborating on a song for Osbourne’s seventh album Ozzmosis. The duo ended up writing an entire album together.
Videos by American Songwriter
“I’m sitting on a whole Ozzy record,” said Vai in a recent interview. “It’s a project that I recorded that’s sitting on the shelf. I don’t have any control over it or the rights to it, obviously, but we did record some pretty good stuff.”
The album was made while Osbourne was recording Ozzmosis and Vai was working on his fourth release Fire Garden. Both continued working on the new music they were making together until Osbourne’s management stepped in, according to Vai, and told him to grab one song to finish the album.
“My Little Man” was the sole collaborative track from their session that made it onto Ozzmosis, while Vai pulled another song “Dyin’ Day” for his 1996 album Fire Garden. Vai pulled a second song from his session with Osbourne, “Danger Zone,” which he recently released on his collaborative album Vai / Gash, featuring vocalist Johnny “Gash” Sombretto. The album was originally recorded in 1991 and shelved for more than 20 years. “Danger Zone” was a track Vai had originally recorded with Gash before revisiting it with Osbourne during their sessions together.
Prior to Vai /Gash, the guitarist and songwriter released Inviolate in 2022. Osbourne, who recently released his 13th album Patient Number 9 in 2022, revealed that he is retiring from touring after recent health setbacks have left his body too weak to travel and perform.
“I am honestly humbled by the way you’ve all patiently held onto your tickets for all this time, but in all good conscience, I have now come to the realization that I’m not physically capable of doing my upcoming European/UK tour dates, as I know I couldn’t deal with the travel required,” shared Osbourne. “Believe me when I say that the thought of disappointing my fans really fucks me up, more than you will ever know.”
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia
