Ordinary Man (Ozzy Osbourne album)
Ordinary Man (stylised as ØRD†NARY MAN) is the twelfth studio album by English heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne. The album features guest appearances from Elton John, Post Malone and Travis Scott. It was released on 21 February 2020 through Epic Records. It was produced by Andrew Watt and Louis Bell. The album marks the first time that Osbourne collaborated with Watt and Bell. It also marks the longest gap between two albums from Osbourne to date, spanning almost ten years since Scream. The first single of the album, "Under the Graveyard", was released on 8 November 2019.[3] The second single, "Straight to Hell", was released on 22 November 2019. The third single and title track featuring singer Elton John was released on 10 January 2020. The fourth single "It's a Raid" featuring Post Malone was released on 20 February 2020, a day before the release of the album.
Ordinary Man
The album received mainly positive reviews, with many considering it Osbourne's best album in years and favorably comparing it to both his early solo work and Black Sabbath.[4][5]
Four days after the album's release, Osbourne announced that he had started working on its follow-up,[6] with Andrew Watt returning as producer.[7] The follow-up was announced as Patient Number 9 and was released on 9 September 2022. A re-recorded version of the Japanese bonus track "Darkside Blues" later appeared as the closing track on the album.[8]
Background[edit]
Ordinary Man is Osbourne's first studio album as a solo artist in ten years following Scream (2010). It is also his first album overall since he reunited with Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler for their final album 13 (2013),[9] with him as lead singer. After the release of 13, they went on a farewell tour titled The End Tour, which ended in Birmingham, England on 4 February 2017.[10] After Black Sabbath concluded their farewell tour, Osbourne kept working on new material. In September 2019, he was featured alongside American rapper Travis Scott on American rapper Post Malone's "Take What You Want", from Malone's third studio album Hollywood's Bleeding, which went on to become Osbourne's first Billboard Hot 100 top 10 in over 30 years, thus making it the longest gap between top 10 appearances in the chart's history.[11] On 8 November 2019, it was revealed that Osbourne had worked with Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan, and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith on the album. Speaking about the recording, he commented that the entire album process is done "in just a short time", adding "Duff and Chad came in and we would go in and jam during the day and I would go work out the songs in the evenings. I previously had said to Sharon I should be doing an album, but in the back of my mind I was going, 'I haven't got the fucking strength.' But Andrew pulled it out of me. I really hope people listen to it and enjoy it, because I put my heart and soul into this album."[12]
Commercial performance[edit]
Ordinary Man debuted at number 3 on the US Billboard 200 with 77,000 equivalent units, including 65,000 pure album sales. This is Osbourne's eighth top ten album on the chart as a solo artist and equals the peak of his 2007 album Black Rain.[24][25] The album also debuted at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart, his highest-ever solo placing on the chart.