Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones is one of the many musicians mourning the death of Ozzy Osbourne. As the embodiment of their respective genres, punk and metal, Jones crossed paths with the late Prince of Darkness a number of times.
“He was one of the funniest guys around, he was great,” Jones tells ABC Audio of Ozzy. “It was a real drag [hearing of his death], I think he went way too young.”
Ozzy’s family announced that he died on Tuesday at age 76, just over two weeks after he performed with his original Black Sabbath bandmates at the massive Back to the Beginning concert on July 5. The show was already billed as Ozzy’s final live performance, as he had been dealing with a number of health issues in recent years.
Looking back at the concert, Jones likens Back to the Beginning as a funeral for Ozzy.
“Once that was over, I think he just let go,” Jones says.
Black Sabbath released their debut album in 1970, seven years before the Pistols put out their first and only album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols. Jones remembers listening to Sabbath records growing up with his future Pistols bandmate, drummer Paul Cook.
“When I was at school, me and Cookie … we used to go around a buddy of mine’s house, his older brother had the one album [1971’s Master of Reality],” Jones says. “We used to go around on our lunch break and play it, with ‘Sweet Leaf.'”
“I definitely liked it,” he adds of Sabbath’s music. “Obviously ‘Paranoid’ is a classic. You cannot not like that.”
Sex Pistols, which currently feature Frank Carter on vocals, will launch their first U.S. tour in over 20 years in September.
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