Ozzy Osbourne and the Funny Story About Working with Taylor Hawkins

Ozzy Osbourne has a lengthy list of guests on his new album Patient Number 9. Among them is Taylor Hawkins, and the Prince of Darkness shared a funny story about the drummer’s influence on the LP.

Osbourne said in a new interview with Kerrang! about the track “Degradation Rules” with Tony Iommi, “You know what ‘Degradation Rules’ is about? Masturbation. Sticky little magazines. A toss-pot. There’s a line in there, ‘Red Tube rules!’ which is an [ode to] the free porn website. And, do you know who suggested that? The drummer, Taylor Hawkins, who died recently.”

Ozzy bluntly said about the late drummer, “To be perfectly honest with you, I’d never heard of him before he played on my album. But he must be good to play with Dave Grohl’s Foo Fighters.”

He added, “When I met him, and from what I saw of him, he was a really nice man, one whose soul will surely last. I should imagine that everyone in that band was f—ing devastated when the poor guy passed away.”

Ozzy’s Patient Number 9 comes out tomorrow (September 9) and is available for pre-order here. In addition to Hawkins and the aforementioned Iommi, the album features appearances by Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Zakk Wylde, Chad Smith, Robert Trujillo, Duff McKagan, Zakk Wylde, Josh Homme and Mike McCready.

In honor of the album’s release, Osbourne will be performing during halftime of the Los Angeles Rams’ season opener at SoFi Stadium. The game is the Rams' first since winning Super Bowl LVI and will air live on NBC beginning at 8:20 PM ET.

The halftime performance comes about a month after Ozzy's surprise appearance with Tony Iommi to close out the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Osbourne and Iommi were joined by bassist Adam Wakeman and drummer Tommy Clufetos for a rousing rendition of the Sabbath classic "Paranoid." Osbourne was aided during the performance with a back support likely due to having Parkinson's disease The Commonwealth Games performance was Ozzy's first time since performing with Post Malone at the 2019 American Music Awards.

In memory of the first anniversary of the passing of Taylor Hawkins on March 25, we're looking back on the two tribute concerts organized by the Foo Fighters. The London and Los Angeles shows were incredible events full of light and love. They were reflections of Hawkins, himself. Foo fans the world over will forever miss and remember one incredible drummer and ambassador for rock music.

We send our thoughts to the family and friends of Taylor Hawkins on this anniversary and every day they miss the unique force he was.

The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert at London's Wembley Stadium on Saturday, September 3 will likely go down as one of the most emotional and cathartic moments in rock in 2022.

The stacked bill featured some of the late Foo Fighters drummer's best friends, biggest influences and peers. Combined, those artists delivered an incredible six-hour show. It's one the thousands in attendance and those watching around the world won't soon forget. The Foo Fighters, themselves, delivered an incredible set where they were joined by a number of different drummers. Among them were Josh Freese, Travis Barker, Nandi Bushell, Rufus Taylor and Shane Hawkins, Taylor's 16-year-old son. If that weren't enough, Paul McCartney made a surprise appearance, too.

Preceding the Foos' set was an all-star lineup of performers that included Queen, Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, Stewart Copeland, Brian Johnson, Lars Ulrich, Mark Ronson, Violet Grohl, The James Gang, The Pretenders, Them Crooked Vultures, Supergrass and more.

Photos from the beautiful celebration that was the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert can be viewed below.