During a recent interview with iHeartRadio’s Doug Podell, Tommy Clufetos – known for being Ozzy Osbourne’s drummer and for filling in for Bill Ward during Black Sabbath’s last two tours – opened up about Osbourne’s death.
“Well, when you lose a guy like Ozzy Osbourne, which it never happened [before], it’s a shock to everybody, and it’s been a shock to everybody around the world, and you can see in the responses,” Clufetos said.
“He deserves the ovation that he’s getting. And I was one of the few fortunate people that got to sit behind him on stage and have the time of my life for 15 years. I got to play drums behind Ozzy Osbourne, and every gig was awesome, every backstage was awesome. Every car ride, every plane ride, everything was a moment to remember, and I’ll remember it forever. God bless Ozzy Osbourne.”
He continued, calling Ozzy “a real innovator when it comes to music.”
“Usually the innovators aren’t given the credit because people don’t ‘get’ it. When you’re really great at something, people don’t really get it. When you make things look easy, people don’t get it. When you’re great, that’s what it is. When you’re pretty good, it’s easy for people to get.”
“Here’s what I think: if you don’t like Ozzy Osbourne, it’s ’cause you’re jealous,” he added. “That’s all there is to it. That goes with sports figures or certain people… Usually the dislike or the hate is usually out of jealousy. So I know there was a lot of people jealous.
“Ozzy was great. He had this power in his voice and this sound that came out that it didn’t matter how high you could sing or how low you can sing, or how pretty you sang, you couldn’t do what he did. What he did was special and it was unattainable.”
