Legendary Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne contemplated his own death in a recent Metal Hammer interview. Osbourne credited ‘luck’ for the reason he’s still alive.
“Yeah, I do think about it. It’s getting close to the fucking end now! But turning 70 really makes you aware of the phenomenal change in the world. It’s crazy what’s going on. Everything’s sped up to a ridiculous level now. You can do more in one hour than you could do in a week before. I do think that mankind is moving way too fast.
I still can’t work a fucking computer, ha ha! But getting older makes you realise how valuable time is, too. I hate being late for anything. If you say to me, ‘Be there at eight!’ I’ll be there at seven thirty. I hate being fucking late. It’s a cause of arguments in this fucking house all the time. My wife has never been early in her life!””
In a new interview with Ultimate-Guitar‘s David Slavković, Dokken guitarist George Lynch talked about being fired by former Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne.
A few months ago, I got the chance to speak to Jake E. Lee. And according to his story, he came in to audition for Ozzy – he kind of wasn’t satisfied with that whole audition – you were there, you met him there, and apparently when Ozzy asked him if he wants to take the gig, he said yes, and according to what Jake said, you were fired on the spot. In front of Jake. Is that story true?
“Yes.”
Completely true?
“Yes. I was very devastated. My wife was with me, I had quit my job. We had two little kids, we lived in an apartment. We didn’t really have much money, so it was a great opportunity for me.
“I was a delivery driver for a liquor company and I would kind of deliver booze into the not-so-good areas. Nobody else wanted to drive into those areas so I took that job.
“It was a good union job so I made enough money to support us. And I had to quit that job to go do the Ozzy thing. And when they fired me like that… And they didn’t pay me, and they didn’t give me any compensation, they didn’t ask me if I was okay or anything.
“They just didn’t care, they just said… It was literally like… It took, like, a minute. Ozzy just said, ‘Hey, it’s not gonna be working out. Thanks a lot for your time. See ya later. Bye.’ [Laughs]
“Yeah, my jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe it. My heart just dropped and… Yeah, I think I cried on the way home. [Laughs] It was very devastating.”