We all know Ozzy is the biggest of whom?
Himself, of course.
During a recent radio interview, Ozzy Osbourne singled out his “inheritance tracks,” naming the tunes that have a special meaning for him.
When it came to Black Sabbath, the singer opted for the band’s breakthrough single, the title track of the group’s 1970 sophomore album, “Paranoid.” He said (as transcribed by UG):
“I think it has to be ‘Paranoid’ from Black Sabbath. I still play that song live on stage, I end the show with it… I just call it my anthem.
“I went to school with Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath; I wasn’t friendly with him in school, though we became mates. Black Sabbath is a band with local guys that had a dream, and it all came true.
“I remember when Roger Bain, the producer [of ‘Paranoid], said, ‘Just jam something out, we need it to finish the album.’ We just jammed and ‘Paranoid’ came out, and it was a hit single.
“People would say, ‘That ‘Paranoid’ is great, it’s gonna be huge.’ When you’re in the bubble looking out, it’s a completely different view than from outside the bubble looking in. I mean, I’d become in my own way a Beatle, you know?
“When I met Paul McCartney, I couldn’t believe it. I would do a thing on a TV show, my wife and I and the kids, and he was on the show, and I said to Sharon, ‘Alright Sharon, did you ever think that you would be standing on the same stage as Paul McCartney?’, and she was just, like, ‘Wow.’
“It’s a simple song with an effective rhythm. It’s got its own color, it’s got its own vibe. I like to think that people in the years to come will still get enjoyment out of it.
“Every now and then you get a song from nowhere, it’s a gift – that was one of them songs that came out of nowhere, the biggest hit earlier on. It was the first time that I had a Top 10 single, apart from ‘Changes’ with my daughter Kelly.
“It’s one of those songs, it stands around the time. And I hope people in the future get as much enjoyment as people now get it.
“When I first departed from Sabbath [in the late ’70s], I said, ‘I’m not gonna do any more Sabbath.’ And then the kids were going, ‘We want to hear this one, ‘Iron Man,’ ‘War Pigs,’ ‘Paranoid’…’
“And then I thought, ‘Why not?’. Every night, I’ll do that song somewhere in my show. It’s one of those songs that I can’t get away from, it’s still as much fun to play now as it was back then. It’s a good song.”
