Ozzy Osbourne Won Grammy For Song With Joke Riff

Keavin Wiggins | 12-28-2021

No More Tears album cover art

Former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde recently revealed the back story to the Grammy winning song "I Don't Want To Change The World".

The song was recorded for Ozzy's 1991 album "No More Tears" and Zakk shares in the January 2022 issue of Guitar World that the riff for the song was originally a joke.

He said, "We were at Joe's Garage, Frank Zappa's old place, and we were jamming. I remember I was playing the main riff, and then I'd get through it and just stop. And then we'd say something into the mic, like, 'How not to ever get a date,' or 'I have no job and I live with my parents.' And then we'd go back into the riff. It was just us on the floor, crying-laughing and coming up with all this stuff that we kept saying in between that riff.

"Then Ozzy comes walking into the room and he goes, 'What is that?' I'm like, 'What are you talkin' about?' And he says, 'That thing you're playing. That riff.' I go, 'Oh, it's just a joke...' And he goes, 'We're going to use that.' Next thing you know, it won a Grammy!"

The Guitar World article features Wylde discussing his 12 biggest musical milestones.