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Ozzy Osbourne gets back on the road
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FarkOzzy Osbourne isn’t going anywhere.
At least, that’s the gist of his two recent hit singles, the aptly named “Not Going Away” and “I Don’t Wanna Stop.”
“That kind of sums me up in one … I mean, I’ll go until I can’t do it anymore,” Osbourne said in a recent teleconference phone interview.
The 57-year-old singer is certainly still going strong this fall, as he hits the road for a 40-city North American tour with fellow heavy-metal rocker Rob Zombie. One of those 40 stops will be at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center on Nov. 6.
The tour is a change of pace for Osbourne, who has been out of the limelight somewhat in recent years because of his wife’s bout with colon cancer. His family’s widely popular MTV reality show “The Osbournes” ended about two years ago and Osbourne has been laying low.
“That’s why you haven’t seen too much of me on the TV. … I thought I was going to be a widow(er). I’d never known anyone that had recovered from cancer,” he said.
So for the past few years, Osbourne’s public appearances have been limited mostly to his yearly “Ozzfest Tour,” a heavy-metal festival that he holds each summer.
But now that his wife is better, Osbourne is back with a vengeance, coming out with his new album “Black Rain” and embarking on this fall’s massive tour.
Osbourne hadn’t put out any new studio material or done any arena tours for six years until he decided to do both this year.
“All that horrible stuff happened, and now I feel that I need to make some music,” he said.
Osbourne has tried giving up his rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle — to no avail.
“You know, I’ve tried retirement. ... One thing I really miss is doing arenas,” he said.
He enjoys arena tours for the simple fact of putting smiles on the faces of audience members.
“I just love to see the kids. I love to — it’s sort of a challenge for me,” Osbourne said.
And civic center fans will get twice the metal for their money with the added presence of Zombie, who also doubles as a horror movie director. His recent film, “Halloween,” debuted as a No. 1 hit at the box office in early September and has grossed millions of dollars.
“He’s into being a director, a film guy. I mean, that’s his passion, I figure. But saying that, he’s also a great rock ’n’ roller,” Osbourne said. “He really, really is. I admire him tremendously. He’s a really dear friend of mine as well.”
Zombie has been no stranger to the Black Hills during the past couple of years. He appeared at the Sturgis motorcycle rally in August of 2005 and played the civic center in July of 2006 – both of which were well-attended concerts.
Osbourne expects the duo to put on an entertaining show – and didn’t rule out the possibility of a duet or two with Zombie.
Zombie is touring in support of his first-ever live album, “Zombie-Live,” which was released on Oct. 23.
His set list will no doubt contain hits from his days as a member of “White Zombie” as well as from the solo career he has embarked on since then, if his two other recent Black Hills shows were any indication.
So what can Osbourne’s fans expect from his part of the concert?
“Hopefully a great show, you know,” Osbourne said. “I’m going to try and change it around a bit because I just did the Ozzfest.”
The show will feature new and old hits, Osbourne said, although he didn’t go into specifics on which songs will be played.
“I want to try and do some – add some different ones, and also I’m definitely going to do a new opening song,” he said.
He was emphatic about one thing, however.
“The sound on that stage is, I think, (as) close as you’ll get to a (expletive) nuclear explosion,” Osbourne said.
Contact Ryan Woodard at 394-8412 or ryan.woodard@rapidcityjournal.com
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