To say that Ozzy Osbourne has had a stellar rotating roster of electric guitar players is far from an understatement. Indeed, the Prince of Darkness had an incredible eye and ear for trailblazing guitarists who elevated his show – a process he once described as “shopping for a new suit” in a classic interview with Guitar World.
One of the guitarists who, in a parallel universe, would perhaps have accompanied Ozzy was the ever-elusive Buckethead, who, most notably, was Guns N' Roses’ lead player between 2000 and 2004. “I tried out that Buckethead guy,” Osbourne told Revolver back in 2005.
However, the invitation came with one specific condition: “I met with him and asked him to work with me, but only if he got rid of the fucking bucket.
“So I came back a bit later and he's wearing this green fucking Martian's-hat thing. I said, ‘Look, just be yourself!’ He told me his name was Brian, so I said that's what I'd call him. He says, ‘No one calls me Brian except my mother.’
“I said, ‘Pretend I'm your mum then!’ I haven't even got out of the room and I'm already playing fucking mind games with the guy. What happens if one day he's gone and there's a note saying, ‘I've been beamed up?’” he quips. “Don't get me wrong, he's a great player. He plays like a motherfucker!”
Ozzy aficionados recently got a taste of what could have been, as Buckethead effortlessly covered War Pigs and Diary of a Madman at some of his recent shows, brandishing his notorious white Les Paul to deliver a virtuosic rendition of the two key Sabbath and Ozzy tracks.
In what may be one of the strangest interviews ever, the enigmatic artist recently gave an ‘interview’ to Bootsy Collins, responding entirely through his electric guitar.
