Ozzy Osbourne Reveals Collaborators for New Solo Album

In August, Ozzy Osbourne revealed that he plans to make a new solo album when he’s done with Black Sabbath’s farewell tour.

Now, in a new interview with SiriusXM’s Jose Mangin (via Loudwire), The Ozzman has revealed the identities of two guitarists who are helping him write the album. The bad news is, neither of them were on our list of suggested collaborators for the record. The sad news is, neither of them are Gus G., further suggesting that Mr. G. may be join Joe Holmes on the list of “Ozzy Guitarists Who Didn’t Make Much of an Impact on Ozzy.” And the good news is, these dudes are both smokin’:

“I’ve been writing with Billy Morrison and Steve Stevens [both guitarists for Billy Idol]. [Steve is] not gonna be in my band, he’s with Billy Idol. But he’s a friend of [Morrison’s] and [Morrison] plays with Billy Idol. I said, ‘I’ve got some ideas,’ and we worked it out. There’s one song that right now is called ‘Crack Cocaine’. It’s like a bluesy thing.”

Regardless of whether or not Stevens is in Ozzy’s solo band, his involvement is cause for high-fives. He’s a perfect choice to write for Osbourne, and if they can get him to contribute a few solos in the studio, well, that would be rad, too. Even when Stevens just shows up for a guest spot, as he did on Meg Meyers’ “Desire,” he manages to steal the show. And that’s to say nothing of the years of great work he’s done with Idol, or the fact that he wrote most of Exposed, which remains Vince Neil’s only good solo album and a better Mötley Crüe album than Mötley Crüe ever made again after Dr. Feelgood.

Obviously, Billy Morrison, primarily known for his work with The Cult, ain’t no slouch, either. But I find his involvement less exciting because he hasn’t written anything I’ve cared about since the 90s.

ANYWAY, while this makes me feel bad for Gus G., it makes me feel glad for the rest of us. What are the chances the new Ozzy album is actually… gulp… good???