Angus Young, together with his late brother Malcolm, formed the backbone of AC/DC over the decades, surviving many tragedies and numerous line-up changes while preserving the band’s sound to this day, when he remains the only original member. As one of the greatest Hard Rock musicians of all time, he had the opportunity to meet and watch many incredible artists perform live during his career. He shared his opinion on many of them, including Black Sabbath’s vocalist Ozzy Osbourne.
What is Angus Young’s opinion on Ozzy Osbourne
Angus Young was a good friend of Ozzy Osbourne and a fan of his work. During Ozzy’s and Sabbath’s farewell show/festival, he appeared in a video alongside Brian Johnson to honor the musician and he said: “Thanks Ozzy for all the great times, enjoy your special day, you earned it”. A few weeks later when the Sabbath frontman passed away at the age of 76, AC/DC posted a tribute on their social media, saying: “So sad! A great loss to all that loved him”.
Although AC/DC had some problems with Black Sabbath in 1977, when they were the opening act for the British band and were ultimately kicked off the tour due to a dispute between Malcolm Young and Geezer Butler, Angus and Ozzy remained good friends over the years.
In 2005, the AC/DC guitarist introduced the musician’s performance when he was inducted into the United Kingdom Hall of Fame in 2005. “This ain’t my usual gig, so bear with me, alright? I’m here to introduce a performance of a good friend of mine. A man known as the Prince of Darkness, he also added to the menu batwings. I’m gonna cut it as short as possible but here it is, his majesticness, Mr. Ozzy Osbourne,” Angus Young said.
That friendship and admiration was confirmed once again before “Back to the Beginning”, Sabbath’s final show/festival. Sharon, Ozzy’s wife and manager was asked by Music Business Worldwide which bands she and her husband would have liked to be part of the celebration. “There are two bands that we would have loved to have been there, but they couldn’t because they’re working that day. (It) was Judas Priest, a local band, and Angus from AC/DC, because he’s always been a huge supporter of Ozzy’s,” Sharon Osbourne said.
Ozzy Osbourne was a huge fan of AC/DC and believed Bon Scott was the best singer they had
Ozzy’s favorite AC/DC singer was the late Bon Scott, who he had the chance to meet during that tour in the 70s, but he also likes Brian Johnson. “I love Brian Johnson but to me my good friend, the late Bon Scott, was the best singer AC/DC ever had. This album was like an addiction to me,” he told Rolling Stone in 2017 about “Highway to Hell”.
The Prince of Darkness also talked about AC/DC when he was asked by the band to record a video statement to be shown at the premiere of their 2011 DVD ‘AC/DC: Live at River Plate’. (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). “I’ve met AC/DC for the first time touring in Sydney with Black Sabbath (In 1977). I remember thinking ‘these can’t be around touring using so much energy at every concert. They’re (not gonna be able to do that in a few years).”
He continued:
“Angus is like a machine that never stops. He keeps going and going. He still got the fucking energy, man. They are a really great bunch of guys. They are my friends, are real people. I love them all, God bless them. (…) There is no other band in the world like them. (They) are a meat and potatoes band. There is no bollocks, there is no fucking around. Whether you like them or you don’t and I’m proud to say I love them,” Ozzy Osbourne said.
AC/DC opened for Black Sabbath on their 1977 European tour, but they were removed from the bill early. According to bassist Mark Evans, Malcolm reportedly knocked out Geezer Butler and the next morning the band was asked to leave. The Sabbath bassist and lyricist was also said to have pulled a flick-knife on Malcolm, something Geezer later denied.”He came over and said: ‘You must think you’re big, having a flick-knife.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ And that was it. Nobody got hurt,” he told Classic Rock in 2016.
According to Angus, Ozzy used to call AC/DC “Meat and Potatoes”
As Angus Young recalled in an interview to promote their 2014 album “Rock or Bust”, Ozzy Osbourne used to describe them as a “meat and potatoes” band. Because they would always be the same and it would work. “I play guitar when I feel like playing guitar – that’s how I learned to play. It was never, ‘You must do that.’ It was a case of you wanted to do that and you felt like doing it. The music has a lot of power. It’s simple, but it’s also kind of complex.”
“Ozzy Osbourne calls us ‘meat and potatoes’ – it’s as good a description as any. You’re trying also to communicate to the whole building. You’re hoping that that sound gets to the very back of the hall so that they’re getting the same feeling as the people who are close. Over the years, you can pace yourself. Maybe I’m lucky – I always kind of get a second and third wind.”
He continued:
“Sometimes I do not know where it comes from. Sometimes I look and I feel tired. Then, out of the blue, I play a bit of music and then I go, ‘Oooh. What am I doing?’ And I’ve moved from one end of the stage to the other. Once you are on stage, you go, ‘I can’t get off now.’ The real world goes away, and you get to go into another world. You just get on and you get on and that’s it,” Angus Young said.
Curiously, AC/DC was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame before the Heavy Metal band. They were inducted into the Hall in 2003, presented by Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, while Black Sabbath would only be inducted in 2006 by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. As a solo artist, Ozzy Osbourne was finally inducted in 2024, introduced by Jack Black.