Ozzy Osbourne Receives Tribute From Metallica Star

(Classic Rock) Robert Trujillo went from covering Ozzy Osbourne's songs to recording and playing with the Prince Of Darkness, here the Metallica bassist pays tribute to his former boss.

Trujillo writes: Everybody has Ozzy lineage to a certain degree, whether it's that listening experience that happens or an actual concert memory, but my memory goes back to before I was even in High School.

When I was a kid, my best friend's older brother was a Black Sabbath fanatic and he would play Sabbath albums for us, and basically scare the sh*t out of us. He'd have candles lit and you'd stare at that album cover, and that woman that was on the cover [of the band's debut album] would seem to come to life! So my earliest memory of Ozzy was through Sabbath and being frightened by the album covers and the music - but it was all very exciting.

That transitioned into me being a young teenager learning bass and learning Iron Man for the first time - I think that and Smoke On The Water are the first bass lines that you learn, generally - and at a certain point one of my friends from High School asked me to join their band. They were playing Black Sabbath and Ozzy covers, and I soon found myself gigging backyard parties, playing Sweet Leaf, Iron Man and War Pigs...

Years later I got to meet Ozzy because they were recording No More Tears at Devonshire Studios in Los Angeles where I was recording the first Infectious Grooves album. Ozzy ended up guest singing on a song called Therapy. He was out of his mind back then, completely hammered every day, but it was a great time and a great moment for me because we were such huge fans of his. He really enjoyed the music of Infectious Grooves, and offered us a support slot on the Theatre of Madness tour: the label didn't want us on that tour, but Ozzy did and he single handedly fought for us to be on it, so we ended up opening for him. It was a dream come true. It was also the scariest tour I'd ever been on because no one knew who we were and those shows were sold out way before we were even mentioned. I learnt quickly that you never leave a gap between songs, because otherwise they'd chant "Ozzy! Ozzy! Ozzy!" and the ground would shake at every show. So it was a wake up call for me, and it was an amazing learning experience because I had to learn fast how to pace a set. When you're dealing with an icon like Ozzy and you're sharing a stage with him, you have to be ready and be on your game. Read more here.

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