In 1968, Black Sabbath was formed in Birmingham, England, with with the help of John Michael Osbourne, better known as Ozzy Osbourne. Along with Tony Iommi, Bill Ward, and Geezer Butler, he played a crucial role in the development of heavy metal music, demonstrating to the world that dark and ominous music could also be made.
Numerous generations of artists have been impacted by them. Despite being expelled from the band in the late 1970s due to substance abuse issues, Ozzy managed to launch a prosperous solo career and gain notoriety as a solo performer.
He has discussed numerous influences throughout the years, and he even publicly disclosed which band was his all-time favorite.
The band that Ozzy Osbourne said is one of his favorites
In 1969, Black Sabbath released their self-titled debut album. The following year, they released additional iconic albums including “Master of Reality” (1971) and “Paranoid” (1970). Despite the great popularity of the records, they first toured as opening acts for other bands before taking the stage as the main attraction.
The group was Mountain’s support act when they embarked on a national tour in 1971. It was also Ozzy’s first introduction to the group that would go on to become one of his favorites.
In a 2005 interview with Launch Radio Networks, he recalled that. The “Prince of Darkness” was promoting his covers album “Under Cover” at the time, which featured a rendition of “Mississippi Queen” by Mountain. Leslie West, the band’s original singer and guitarist, made a special appearance on that song.
Ozzy said, “Well, Leslie West and I, and Mountain, go back many years. In fact, the very first American tour that Black Sabbath ever did. Way back in, I think, 1971 or 1970, we opened the show (for Mountain).”
He added, “I’ve had a soft spot for Leslie when he was big, when he was bad, when he was on heroin, when he was not on heroin, when he… Mountain were, were, and still are, one of my favorite bands. ‘Mississippi Queen’ was always one of my favorite songs. And then Sharon says, ‘You know, we got Leslie West to play on it’. I was like, ‘You’re joking!'”
The song “Mississippi Queen” was originally heard on Mountain’s 1970 studio album “Climbing!” At the time, the song was made available as a single and peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Ozzy truly adores that song, and in an interview with Rolling Stone a year before he eventually covered it, he listed it as one of his all-time favorites. Ozzy Osbourne remarked, “This one reminds me of my very first U.S. tour with Black Sabbath.”
Ironically, Ozzy claimed that Leslie West, the guitarist and singer for Mountain, introduced him to American rock during a 2002 interview with Steve Newton. Leslie said, “Yeah (I thought they would be huge). I really loved Ozzy and I loved the guitar player Tony Iommi. I have some great stories with them because Ozzy said that Mountain was really (the band) that turned him on to American Rock. We did a lot of dates with them, the whole tour we hung out together.”
Ozzy Osbourne also sang on a Mountain album
Ozzy received an invitation from Leslie West to sing on Mountain’s 2007 album “Masters of War,” two years after the singer appeared as a special guest on his covers album “Under Cover” (2005). It was the American band’s last album, and the only songs on it are covers of Bob Dylan songs. Ozzy only did two renditions of the title track “Masters of War” as a guest vocalist. Since the label wouldn’t let him sing any more than that.
In a 2012 interview with Guitar World, West recollected, “I helped on his version of ‘Mississippi Queen’. I had asked him, I said, ‘I’d love you to sing on one of these Dylan songs we’re going to do.’ At the time, Sony didn’t want him singing any more cover songs. Because he had just done a whole record of covers.”
“So it went back and forth. He didn’t have a problem with it; the label did. So I sent him ‘Masters of War,’ and they said he could sing two verses. I picked out two verses and sent it to him. It sounds like we were in the room together, but it wasn’t. He was at his studio.”