We're just wrapping the I Want Blood chapter, then I'll take the winter off and see where we're at, [Alice in Chains] intended to work but had a little bit of a health scare with Sean, so we had to cancel some shows. We also had a tour planned for, like, right now that kind of fell through. So we had some bad luck; we planned on doing much more this year, but it just didn't work out.
In Toron­to, 7,000 singers par­tic­i­pat­ed in Choir Choir Choir's trib­ute to Ozzy Osbourne, all tak­ing part in a giant sing-along of "Para­noid." The first sin­gle on Black Sab­bath's sec­ond album (1970), "Para­noid" reached #4 in the UK mar­ket and put Sab­bath on the map. The song also became an ear­ly heavy met­al clas­sic. Watch Sab­bath per­form the song live in 1970 here; or watch them per­form it for the very last time on July 5, 2025 here. Then enjoy the Choir Choir Choir trib­ute above.
"I feel unhappy I am so sad. I lost the best friend I ever had." This poignant lyric from Black Sabbath's 'Changes' resonates with Kelly after Ozzy's passing. Kelly had previously sung this song with Ozzy, highlighting their deep bond and shared history in music that dates back to their duet in 2003.
"Congratulations to Black Sabbath on the grand and final pealing of their vesper bells! Thank you for an astounding career that provided us and your legion of fans with a lifetime of beauty, horror, love, power, happiness, melancholy and a profoundly sublime, yet viscerally rocking transcendence informed by both doom and hope."
When we had a break on one of the rehearsals, we went in to eat at the studio, and Bill got his shirt off, and Geezer was just about to have a sandwich. He went, 'Oh, Bill put your shirt on. You're putting me off the sandwich.' But it's typical Bill. He is always taking his shirt off every time.