Ozzy Osbourne Admits Ego Stalled Past Black Sabbath Recordings

It's not as if Ozzy Osbourne had not reunited with Black Sabbath before, even playing with his original bandmates on his own branded Ozzfest. Sabbath have played six such Ozzfest events dating back to 1997, but yet the band never recorded any new material. Osbourne admits in a new interview that part of the reason for that was his own ego.

He told the Daily Telegraph, "[Past attempts failed because of] my ego. I was riding on this f---ing cloud of being television's new megastar for five minutes. I was doing well on my own, so it took me a while to get that balanced out in my head. I mean, it's not Ozzy Osbourne, it's Black Sabbath. It's f---ing Black Sabbath. It's different from me doing my own thing."

After checking the ego at the door, Osbourne and his onetime bandmates reconvened in the studio to record their new '13' album. Never the critical darlings back in their early years, Osbourne admits a little bit of a surprise at how well the disc has been received. "I knew it was a f---ing good album, but when somebody just told me it's gone top in fifty countries -- I didn't know there were fifty countries, and I'm number one in all of them?! I'm just devastated."

As for the possibility of more Black Sabbath albums, Osbourne concluded, "It depends on Tony [Iommi]. At the moment, we're doing so many weeks on the road, then he had to go back for more treatment. He's had chemo and radiotherapy, and now he's on a thing to boost his immune system. I really hope [his lymphoma] is gone for good. I'm sure it has. But you never know with that stuff."

The '13' album is available online and in stores now. Black Sabbath will play North American shows beginning in late July supporting the effort.