During a recent interview with Scuba Steve on Nashville radio station 1059 The Rock, Creed frontman Scott Stapp spoke about the late Ozzy Osbourne.
“He meant the world to rock and roll and metal,” Stapp said before explaining how much of an impact Ozzy and Black Sabbath’s music had on his band. “Creed definitely has huge metal influences, coming specifically from Mark’s [Tremonti, Creed guitarist] side. But we all got into Ozzy when we were young. We all listened to Black Sabbath. We all listened to Ozzy as a solo artist. His songs not only rocked, but a lot of his ballads touched our hearts. His charisma, his personality, who he was as a father, from watching his reality shows, he was just a major influence.
“And [his wife and manager] Sharon Osbourne, she actually has been a part of Creed’s story since 1998, and she’s always been a big Creed defender and had our back early in our career. And so we love that family and just wanted to share our love for Ozzy and for Sharon and know that they’re in our prayers during this difficult time.”
In a 2021 interview with Classic Rock, Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti named Black Sabbath’s 1970 self-titled debut album as one of his five essential guitar albums. “These are the guys who started it all for the scene I love the most,” he told the publication. “It’s hard to pick just one Black Sabbath record — all my favorite songs are spread out — but I’ll go with the debut album.
“Nobody had this sound before Tony Iommi. It’s almost like he and the band were possessed by some dark spirit, and this is the result. A lot of the metal that followed, like black metal, was directly influenced by Black Sabbath. Tony Iommi’s riffs and his guitar tone are so scary and gloomy. If anybody ever asks, ‘What does heavy sound like?’, this is the answer.”
Ozzy passed away last month on July 22nd at the age of 76, just 17 days after performing what was billed as his final show. According to The New York Times, the legendary musician’s death certificate states that he suffered from coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s disease, with his cause of death being listed as a heart attack.
