Ozzy Osbourne Teams With Billy Morrison And Steve Stevens For New Song

03-21-2024

(SRO) "I guess the way that your love makes me feel/Must mean I'm really addicted," sings Ozzy Osbourne on "Crack Cocaine," the newly released track out today (March 21) from Billy Morrison's new solo album The Morrison Project that's due April 19 via The Label Group's partnership with TLG|ZOID through Virgin Music Group.

This seismic collaboration also features Steve Stevens on guitar and was co-written by Morrison, Osbourne, and Stevens who all appear in the video with Paris Jackson playing the glamorous/romantic interest, with cameos from visual artist Risk and actor Jeff Hilliard.

"Crack Cocaine" marks the first new song with Ozzy on vocals since the 2022 release of his worldwide smash album Patient Number 9 which earned him two Grammy Awards ("Best Rock Album," "Best Metal Performance"). "I was in the same room as Billy and Steve," says Ozzy about co-writing the song. "The lyrics just came out of the blue. It was written in about 20 minutes."

Billy-the British guitarist, singer, and songwriter primarily known as Billy Idol's rhythm guitar player for the past 15 years alongside lead guitarist Steve Stevens-sheds more light on the song's origins: "The music was a direct result of sitting in a room with Steve, both with de-tuned guitars, and writing what we felt was an ultimate Ozzy riff. From there, we brought Ozzy over, and we all sat around working on the lyrics, but 90% of those came from Ozzy himself. He's the one that suddenly stood up and sang "Like Crack Cocaine"!! We looked at each other and knew we had the title!!"

Importantly, reveals Steve, "First and foremost, Billy and I discussed what an Ozzy fan would really love to hear. We really zeroed in on the '90s-era Ozzy, the truly heavy stuff. We cast aside any rules both musically and lyrically. It was really a great team and Billy is just such a great motivator. Obviously as a guitarist, to contribute to an Ozzy song is like a kid in a candy store. He's played with such an amazing array of guitarists that I tried my best to honor that tradition."

Adds Steve: "I think the fact that Billy and I have spent the better part of 16 years working together in Billy Idol means we are almost telepathic in how we arrange guitars, etc. Billy and Ozzy have such an amazing friendship that it was easy to feel inspired and want to help them achieve any idea I could assist with. As we worked in my home studio, I tried to make the actual recording process almost invisible. Forget any technical aspects and really have some fun. To Ozzy's credit, he was totally focused-and man the first time I heard him sing in what was essentially my living room, f***ing chills ran down my spine."

How did The Morrison Project come together? "I truly believe that making music without any preconceptions or goals yields the most creative and enjoyable results. And that is exactly how this record came to life. Making music with Erik (Eldenius) and Jeordie (White) during Covid, and mixing different musical styles started my journey towards this collection of songs that ended up featuring a lot of my friends."

Q&A with Morrison about the new song is below:

Is "Crack Cocaine" just a metaphor or is it based on any experiences with the drug?

BILLY: The song is 100% about how certain relationships can FEEL like an addiction. It's nothing whatsoever to do with the drug! It's a comparison. Ozzy is talking about being in that dysfunctional situation with a partner that feels so wrong, but you keep going back again and again. "Loving you is driving me insane. I put you down and pick you up again" - it's exactly like a drug addiction.

Of all the songs you had for this album, why did you bring this one to Ozzy to finish and sing on?

Billy: Purely based on the riff. When Steve and I wrote the music, it was clear to both of us that it was classic Ozzy - that ONLY Ozzy could sing this one. Once he threw his vocal down, it was obvious that it could never have been anyone else.

Steve is also a co-writer on the song and plays on it with you. What do you feel that Steve has added to it?

Billy: The song would not have happened without Steve. It was a total collaboration from start to finish. We both sat together, playing riffs, and his ability to arrange those riffs into a cohesive song is fantastic. The solo is just pure classic Stevens, and we wrote and recorded it all in his studio, so he was hands on at every stage. He didn't ADD to the song, he CREATED the song with me.

How amazing that Paris Jackson appears in the video. How did that materialize and what do you feel her presence adds to the video?

Billy: Paris was so sweet to even agree to do the video. We wanted someone to play the woman that Ozzy is singing about, and we had a mutual friend who facilitated the introduction. I was honest with her and said that we were doing the whole thing homegrown, no huge record company budget and luckily she's a huge rock fan and wanted to be a part of it. She brought the sense of glamour and beauty to the video that we wanted.