Ozzy Osbourne recently shared why he chooses not to listen to the records made by Ronnie James Dio while fronting BLACK SABBATH, comparing it to yearning for an ex-spouse.
On a recent episode of Ozzy Speaks on SiriusXM, Ozzy Osbourne spoke about how much credit he gives to Ronnie James Dio, who replaced him in BLACK SABBATH after his firing in 1979. However, he says that he has no real interest in getting stuck into the albums Dio produced with the band.
“Ronnie did a good job,” Osbourne says. “At the time I was f**king sad because…they were the only thing that ever really happened to me.”
While Osbourne goes on to give his former SABBATH bandmates credit for hiring someone with a different singing style rather than just roping in any “Ozzy sound-alikes”, he also confirms that he’s never listened to the Dio-era SABBATH records (1980’s Heaven And Hell, 1981’s Mob Rules and 1992’s Dehumanizer).
“It’s like my ex-wife,” Osbourne continues. “You leave a band like that, it’s just like getting divorced. You don’t go, ‘How’s your new bloke? Is he better than me?'”
BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi recently reflected on his time playing with Dio, saying: “Obviously, when Ronnie got involved, the writing became different because of the different sort of way he approached [music]. And it was a really exciting period for us… It sort of boosted us up.”
