Sabrina Carpenter is kinda a big deal. A former Disney TV star, the 26-year-old Quakertown, Pennsylvania singer released her debut album Eyes Wide Open back in 2015 to little fanfare, but her most recent collection, 2024's Short n' Sweet, topped the national charts in 18 countries, spawned three UK number one singles, has already sold more than three million copies in the US alone, and catapulted the singer into stadiums worldwide.
But before she got her first big break, landing a role as a character called Maya Hart on Disney Channel show Girl meets World, Carpenter was given a thorough education in old school rock and metal - Queen, The Beatles, Rush, Guns N' Roses, Ozzy Osbourne and more - by her father David.
"The Trees is the longest song I’ve ever heard," she joked to Rolling Stone earlier this year about Rush's classic single from 1978's Hemispheres album. "I heard it my whole childhood."
Rather sweetly, visual proof of Carpenter's pre-fame fondness for classic rock exists online, in the form of a rather fine cover of Ozzy Osbourne's signature anthem Crazy Train recorded in collaboration with an uncredited guitarist, bassist and drummer back in 2011, when she was 12-years-old. And while it's highly unlikely that, unlike Ozzy, the 12-year-old Carpenter could fully identify with the idea of "going off the rails", you'd have to have a heart of stone not to appreciate her fully-committed efforts to channel the Prince Of Darkness when tackling the most famous on his 1980 solo debut, Blizzard Of Ozz.
All aboooooooard!
"[Blizzard of Ozz bassist] Bob Daisley did a lot of the lyrics on that," Ozzy told this writer in 2018. "I probably did ‘I’m going off the rails like a crazy train’, and ‘Crazy, but that’s how it goes’, but then I’d get stuck and he’d help me. And Randy [Rhoads] was brilliant, he was the first guy in my life who was like, ‘Try doing this here, and this here…’ When we did Crazy Train I knew we had something good. It was a magical time."
Earlier this week, on July 30, Osbourne was buried in England, following an emotional stop in his hometown, Birmingham, where thousands of fans turned out to pay their respects to the legendary Black Sabbath frontman, following his death on July 22.
Osbourne co-founded Black Sabbath in 1968 and made eight albums with the Godfathers of Metal before being dismissed from the pioneering band in 1979, due to what was perceived by his bandmates to be excessive substance abuse.
With invaluable encouragement and assistance from his manager/wife Sharon, Osbourne then launched a hugely successful solo career, beginning with Blizzard of Ozz.
Ozzy Osbourne: No Escape From Now , a feature-length documentary focussing on the final years, is currently in production. The film is being directed by BAFTA Award winner Tania Alexander of London-based Broadcasting & media production company Echo Velvet.
As well as interviews with Osbourne and his family, No Escape From Now will feature interviews and insights from Ozzy’s Black Sabbath bandmate Tony Iommi, Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses), Robert Trujillo (Metallica), Billy Idol, Maynard James Keenan (Tool), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), guitarist Zakk Wylde and producer Andrew Watt.
