OZZY OSBOURNE Teases New Single 'Degradation Rules' Featuring TONY IOMMI

Ozzy Osbourne will release a new single, "Degradation Rules", on Friday, July 22. A teaser for the track, which features a guest appearance by Ozzy's BLACK SABBATH bandmate Tony Iommi, is available below.

"Degradation Rules" is taken from Ozzy's new album, "Patient Number 9", which will arrive on September 9. The LP's title track, featuring a guest appearance by legendary guitarist Jeff Beck, was made available last month. Artist and comic book creator Todd McFarlane directed the music video for the song.

"Patient Number 9" track listing:

01. Patient Number 9 (feat. Jeff Beck)
02. Immortal (feat. Mike McCready)
03. Parasite (feat. Zakk Wylde)
04. No Escape From Now (feat. Tony Iommi)
05. One Of Those Days (feat. Eric Clapton)
06. A Thousand Shades (feat. Jeff Beck)
07. Mr. Darkness (feat. Zakk Wylde)
08. Nothing Feels Right (feat. Zakk Wylde)
09. Evil Shuffle (feat. Zakk Wylde)
10. Degradation Rules (feat. Tony Iommi)
11. Dead And Gone
12. God Only Knows
13. Darkside Blues

Last year, Ozzy told SiriusXM that the lyrics for "Patient Number 9", which he co-wrote with producer Andrew Watt, were inspired by his relationship with his wife and manager, Sharon.

"The song is about a mental institution," Ozzy said.

In the track, Osbourne sings: "When they call your name, better run and hide / Tell you you're insane, you believe their lies / I'm not getting out, no I'm not getting out alive / I'm not getting out, 'cause I'm patient number 9."

Regarding Beck's contribution to the song, Ozzy said: "Having someone like Jeff Beck play on my album is just incredible, a total honor. There's no other guitar player that plays like him and his solo on 'Patient Number 9' is just jaw-dropping."

As for his renewed collaboration with Iommi, Ozzy said: "It was really great working with Tony. He's the riff master. No one can touch him in that respect. I only wish we had these songs for BLACK SABBATH's '13' album."

"Patient Number 9" will include an appearance by RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS drummer Chad Smith, who played on Ozzy's last studio album, 2020's "Ordinary Man".

This past March, Smith revealed during an interview with the "Talk Is Jericho" podcast that the new Ozzy album would also feature Robert Trujillo (METALLICA) and Duff McKagan (GUNS N' ROSES).

Chad went on to say that "the English royalty of guitar players" has been recruited to guest on Osbourne's new album. "Tony Iommi and Ozzy have never collaborated outside of BLACK SABBATH," he said. "Tony sent us a bunch of riffs and we took what we thought was the best of 'em, which was fucking great. So Andy's on the bass doing fucking great — the bass on the song is amazing. And Tony sent us the riffs — files; he's in England — and we played to it. It's fucking got everything. It's got all the stuff that you would want. Ozzy loves it. And so he's on that track. Then Eric Clapton plays a fucking wah-wah CREAM-type solo. We're, like, 'Eric, can you solo on this song? Wah-wah, please. Eric, what do you think about this, with the wah-wah?' Because that's his fucking thing. And so he's soloing all over this other track. Then Jeff Beck is on two songs. We tried to get Jimmy Page [LED ZEPPELIN], we tried to get the holy trinity, but I don't think Page plays anymore too much, unfortunately. But Mike McCready's [PEARL JAM] on a track. Josh Homme, my neighbor from QUEENS [OF THE STONE AGE], solos on a track. And then Zakk Wylde [BLACK LABEL SOCIETY] is on the record as well, all over it. So it's like if you're a guitar player, [it's] pretty fucking good."

Last year, Ozzy confirmed that 15 songs had been recorded for his follow-up to "Ordinary Man". In October, he told Metal Hammer magazine that his new album will be "similar in tone to 'Ordinary Man', but I can't describe it completely. I've not heard it for a while because it keeps going over to the next person to add their parts — we're fucking around with it all the time," he said.

Watt connected with Osbourne after meeting Ozzy's daughter Kelly at a friend's party and pitching her on the idea of Post Malone and Ozzy collaborating together.

In December 2020, Watt told Guitar World that Ozzy's next album would feature guest appearances by a number of notable musicians. "There's a bunch of people involved," he said. "I can't say for sure until the end, but I started doing a bunch of basic tracks with Chad and Robert Trujillo, who used to play in Ozzy's band. And Taylor Hawkins [FOO FIGHTERS] also came in and played a bunch on the record as well, which adds a different flair — it kind of harkened back to Ozzy's '80s era, in a great way. And I think it's so cool for a rock fan to be able to listen to half an album with Chad Smith on drums, and then you flip it over and you get to hear Taylor Hawkins. And you know, the last album was really special for everyone involved. And so there was no point in Ozzy or me doing this again unless we thought we could bring something new to the table. And I feel like we're achieving that."

Photo credit: Ross Halfin