2 bands Ozzy Osbourne said were boring in the 80s

Heavy Metal exists the way we know it because of Black Sabbath, the band formed in Birmingham, England, back in 1968 by Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, and Ozzy Osbourne. That lineup stayed together until the late ’70s, when the vocalist was fired due to substance and alcohol abuse. It seemed like the end of a successful career, but with the help of his manager and future wife Sharon, the “Prince of Darkness” launched a brilliant solo career in the ’80s.

However, his behavior and addiction only got worse with that level of success, and Ozzy could be quite harsh in interviews during the 1980s. In one particular interview, he was asked his opinion on a few bands and artists, and he described two of them as “boring.”

2 bands Ozzy Osbourne said were boring in the 80s

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was the first artist Ozzy said was boring during the interview. Then he was asked his opinion on MJ’s best-selling album “Thriller” (1982) and once again he replied: “Boring”. The final question was which was his opinion on the music video of the title-track to which he said: “okay…”.

But his opinion has changed over the years and the Black Sabbath vocalist recognizes Michael Jackson‘s success and his importance to music. In 2020, after Eddie Van Halen died at the age of 65, Ozzy talked with Rolling Stone and mentioned the Pop star. “It’s always a sad day when somebody like that (Eddie) dies. It’s like when Michael Jackson died. I didn’t believe it at first. It’s such a fucking loss.”

The late Van Halen guitarist played the praised guitar solo in the Michael Jackson hit “Beat It”, which was part of the album “Thriller”. During an episode of Ozzy’s Boneyard on Sirius XM, Osbourne said that Eddie never got any royalties from that and also recalled Jackson had a few female guitarists.

(Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) “Eddie never got royalties for the Michael Jackson stuff (Guitar solo in “Beat It”). I doubt it anybody else. He (also had female guitarists), I was watching a video the other day when travelling on my Ipad and he had the chick singer with him, what was her name, Sheryl Crow, singing a duet with him,” Ozzy Osbourne said.

Michael Jackson is the best-selling solo artist in history. He has sold an estimated total of more than 500 million records worldwide. Thriller alone sold over 70 million copies, making it the best-selling album of all time. Ozzy, for example, sold an estimated amount of more than 50 million records as a solo act.

The Clash

Another group Ozzy Osbourne called boring was the British Punk Rock band The Clash. Formed in 1976, their classic line-up had Joe Strummer, Paul Sinomon, Topper Headon and Mick Jones.

In the 80s, when Ozzy called them boring, the group released three albums “Sandinista!” (1980), “Combat Rock” (1982) and “Cut the Crap” (1985). Some memorable tracks from those records are “The Magnificent Seven”, “Should I Stay or Should I Go”, “Rock the Casbah” and “This Is England”.

The band’s late vocalist and guitarist Joe Strummer mentioned Black Sabbath when talking to Melody Maker in 1976. He recalled that a few years earlier most bands were more riff focused. Mainly because they were inspired by the Heavy Metal band fronted by Ozzy.

“Yesterday I thought I was a crud. Then I saw the Sex Pistols and I became a king and decided to move into the future. As soon as I saw them, I knew that rhythm and blues was dead, that the future was here somehow. Every other group was riffing their way through the Black Sabbath catalogue. But hearing the Pistols I knew. I just knew. It was something you just knew without bothering to think about,” Joe Strummer said.

When The Clash was formed in 1976, Black Sabbath already was one of the biggest bands in the world. They had already released the albums: “Black Sabbath” (1970), “Paranoid (1970), “Master of Reality” (1971), “Vol. 4” (1972), “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” (1973 and “Sabotage” (1975). By the late 70s, as all Heavy Metal bands, they were a little bit affected by the Punk movement.