Ozzy Osbourne looked ‘normal’ the day before his death, according to Andrew Watt

For six and a half years, the Grammy winning producer Andrew Watt talked to Ozzy Osbourne daily. The day before the death of the metal legend by heart attack in July was no exception.

“Everything was normal,” says Watt, “and the next day the news was a gigantic shock.” Watt approached Osbourne during the production of his last two albums, Ordinary Man (2020) and Patient Number 9 (2022), and credits the singer the opening of the way for his work with the Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga and others.

A watt still in mourning remembered his friendship with Osbourne in our recent interview.

Andrew Watt talks about Ozzy Osbourne

RS: You played at the “Back to the Beginning” show. How was this experience?
AW: “The show experience was unbelievable and right now looks like a dream sequence. The whole month of my life looks like a dream. I was in London working on a project, and going to the show and getting to Birmingham was amazing. And I got there and had a huge photo shoot, everyone was there. It was amazing because [o guitarrista] Jake E. Lee It was there, and he didn’t see Ozzy for over 30 years. And all these people were there, all the spheres of life. Bands he loved. Musicians he loved. Has an amazing photo shoot that the Ross Halfin He was driving and Ozzy sent him if he gives all the time, and he sent the Ozzy if he is back. ”
“It was just amazing, fun. It looked like a heavy metal summer camp. That’s the best way to describe it. And then we were all together every day, and we lived with Sharonthe Jacka Kelly And everyone… I remember the night before the big show, I left with Sharon to eat a curry, because that’s what you eat in Birmingham. And we took one to the hotel to Ozzy. We stayed with him for a long time and talked. We spent a few hours together in his room the night before the show. [Pausa.] It’s hard to talk about it. ”

RS: It must be like losing a family member.
AW: “Yes, yes. He saw me in a way I didn’t see myself, and if you talk to someone who loves him or was lucky enough to be loved by him, that’s a constant. He could see you on his good side, on his bad side, and simply in a way that you were – he was a wizard like that. He often knew the things that would happen before they happened and had an incredible intuition. [uma queda em casa] that he suffered. And it was the first time I was doing music that I realized that music was something bigger than just making songs. It was to give him a purpose when he didn’t feel good and make him feel great, laugh, sing, dance and heal. These two albums were amazing and, for me, are the reason why I’m here talking to you today. ”

RS: Because it changed your entire career.
AW: “Yes, it changed everything to me. He saw me like a serious album producer. Until then, I wasn’t really making full albums. I had made one or two full albums in which I was involved, but I wasn’t doing it that way. And he saw me that I was able to come true. Guitar on your albums, and this is simply unbelievable. We were very dedicated to each other, both employees and friends.

RS: What did he teach you specifically about mixing?
AW: “You need to understand that this guy was doing Paranoid (1970) when I was 21 years old. So he had a 55 -year career where everything was grand and the highest level. And he is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, a story lover and a genius, a literal genius. His persona was just a persona. He was incredibly bright, incredibly keen. His ears were reactive. You might think he wasn’t listening, but he heard everything. Sometimes we were in the studio listening to something and he was just drawing, and I thought, ‘Oh, he’s not listening.’ And then he gave me a speech that cut me deeply, in a positive way. He always told me: ‘Listen LED ZEPPELIN And tell me what is the highest thing ‘. And I confidently said, ‘It’s the battery. John Bonham‘. He said, ‘No, it’s not the battery.’ He said, ‘It’s the bass’. ”

RS: I would say the battery too.
AW: “He stressed that the bass is the most important thing in a rock song. You need to ensure that the bass is there, pulsating, cutting and providing that feeling of pace, because it is the bridge between the drums and the guitars. This makes the music heavy, because guitars can stand out if you mix them the right way. The low is something difficult to highlight without failing to sustain the base. Ensuring that the bass stand out. And if you hear the records we did together, there is very low in them.

RS: Do you have any unpublished music of the time you both were together? Is there anything stored in the coffers?
AW: “[Pausa.] I can’t talk about it! ”

+++ Read more: Roger Waters’ controversial opinion about Ozzy – countered by the singer’s son
+++ Read more: The only singer authorized by Ozzy to replace him on Black Sabbath
+++ Read more: Zakk Wylde’s discreet and beautiful gesture to help Ozzy in his final show
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• Andrew Watt

• Black Sabbath

• Ozzy Osbourne