"Lot of the American guys play too fast" — Ozzy Osbourne reveals the best guitarist he has played with in his lifetime

Black Sabbath Press Conference
Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

In a clip of a teaser of English musician Ozzy Osbourne's podcast The Madhouse Chronicles, the 75-year-old singer revealed who he thought was the best guitarist he has played with to date: Black Sabbath bandmate Tony Iommi.

The singer further spoke about American guitar players,

"I find a lot of the American guys play too fast."

Ozzy Osbourne, himself, was the vocalist for the heavy metal band, while Iommi was the guitar player. Black Sabbath which were formed back in 1968 and the band performed their last concert in February 2017. Since then, Ozzy and Iommi have performed together occasionally.


Ozzy Osbourne, the lead singer of Black Sabbath, revealed that Tony Iommi was the best guitarist he had ever played with

75-year-old Ozzy Osbourne, or the "Prince of Darkness," recently spoke in a teaser of his ongoing podcast, The Madhouse Chronicles,

"That's the thing about having a band like Black Sabbath: we came from the streets and we knew our stuff, and Tony Iommi was and is the best f*cking guitar player I have ever played with."

He further added,

"I've played Paranoid, I've played Children of the Grave and War Pigs. They do the notes, but it's not the same. Tony Iommi, for whatever reason, he's f*cking great."

According to the iconic singer, while people can play the same notes, they can't completely "replicate it." Osbourne additionally stated that all the iconic bands wouldn't be the same if a member were to be replaced. To corroborate his statements even further, the singer referred to The Beatles and Rolling Stone, too. He added that if Mick Jagger left, The Rolling Stones wouldn't be the same.

Osbourne and Tony Iommi were bandmates in Black Sabbath from 1968 to 1977 and then again from 1997 to 2017 when the band disbanded. Back in 2018, in an interview with The Times, Ozzy Osbourne spoke about how he felt working with his former bandmate.

Black Sabbath, (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Black Sabbath, (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Osbourne then said,

"Do I like working with him? Not really. Do I like him as a person? Yeah, I love him as a person."

In 1979, Osbourne had to leave the heavy metal band because of his alcohol and drug abuse problems. Ozzy Osbourne later worked with Iommi on songs like Degradation Rules and No Escape From Now.


In a previous interview, Ozzy said that Randy Rhoads was the best solo career guitarist

While Osbourne now believes that Iommi has been the best guitar player he has played with to date, back in 2019, in an interview to promote See You On The Other Side, he spoke about his favorite solo career guitar player. The singer then spoke about Quiet Riot guitar player Randy Rhoads and said,

"Well, Randy Rhoads was the best. If I had to say which one of the guitar players you'd rather work with, who was the most musically trained, it was Randy, because he could write, he could read, he could play..."

Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads have released two studio albums together, Blizzard of Ozz was dropped in 1980 in the UK, and a few months later in 1981 in the US. The second album, Diary Of A Madman, dropped in October 1981. This was the last album where the duo worked together before Rhoads died in a plane crash on March 19, 1982.

In the 2019 interview, Osbourne spoke about the guitarist's tragic death, and said,

"He got tragically killed, and I'll never forget it as long as I live. That story, we all know now. But, I mean, he was only a young man. He was in his early twenties."

Several other guitar players have worked with the Black Sabbath lead singer. The list includes Zakk Wylde, Gus G, Joe Holmes, Bob Daisley, Adam Wakeman, and Steve Vai.

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