Ozzy Osbourne Ordinary Man

The road to Ordinary Man was anything but ordinary. Osbourne started working on the LP after a serious fall forced him to postpone touring plans. During the tedious process of recovery, the Prince of Darkness found comfort by working on new material. “If it wasn’t for making this record, I would still be on traction, thinking, ‘I’m going to be lying here forever,'" the 71-year-old rocker previously confessed. "I’ve missed music so badly. My fans are so loyal and so good. Up until making the album, I thought I was dying. But that got me off my arse. … It’s the greatest album I’ve done.” Ordinary Man notably includes some high-profile collaborations, including Elton John, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash and Duff McKagan and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.

Ordinary Man is the twelfth studio album by English heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne. It was released on 21 February 2020 through Epic Records. It was produced by Andrew Watt and Louis Bell. This is the longest gap between two albums from Osbourne to date, spanning almost ten years since Scream. The first single of the album, "Under the Graveyard", was released on 8 November 2019. The second single, "Straight to Hell", was released on 22 November 2019. The third single and title track featuring singer Elton John was released on 10 January 2020. The fourth single "It's a Raid" featuring Post Malone was released on 20 February 2020, a day before the release of the album. The album received mainly positive reviews, with many considering it Osbourne's best album in years and favorably comparing it to both his early solo work and Black Sabbath.

Against all odds, Ozzy Osbourne's 2020s output has been as strong if not stronger than the vast majority of his multi-decade discography. His 12th studio solo album, 2020's Ordinary Man, sounded rejuvenated and inspired, with its moments of hard-hitting, Sabbath-echoing greatness far outnumbering its few by-the-numbers clunkers. Ozzy hadn't turned in a studio LP for ten years before Ordinary Man, but his 13th album, Patient Number 9, arrives just two relatively short years after its predecessor and carries a similar crackle of reactivated excitement. Part of what keeps things lively is the all-star cast of guest guitarists that show up on almost every track. Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Pearl Jam's Mike McCready all contribute lead parts and solos to various songs, but some of the record's best moments come when Ozzy reunites with guitar heroes from his past.