How Ozzy Osbourne Got Elton John For Ordinary Man

William Lee | 01-13-2020

Chad Smith has explained how Ozzy Osbourne recruited Elton John to make a guest appearance on his new song "Ordinary Man", which is the title track to Ozzy's forthcoming album.

Ozzy shared the new track last week as he announced that the long awaited new studio album will be hitting stores on February 21st. The song features Elton John, as well as Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash.

Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith, who plays drums on the record, recently spoke to SiriusXM and explained how Elton became involved in the track. Chad said, "We decided, 'Well, [the track] has a piano. Who is a really good piano player? I don't know.... Let's get the Rocket Man. And so Andrew [Watt, producer] and I went down to Atlanta, where Elton John lives when he's on the East Coast. I think he kind of lives all over the place. And we recorded him. And he played the piano on the song, and he plays it beautifully, of course. And then we're, like, 'Why don't we have him sing a verse?'"

Smith continued, "These two iconic legendary English f***ing rockers that have been through it all are singing about the end of their lives. 'I don't wanna die an ordinary man.' And it's f***ing great. Me and Andrew are pinching ourselves. And Elton was so great, so gracious. 'I'll do anything for Ozzy. I love Ozzy.'

"And so on this 'Ordinary Man' song, you've got Duff McKagan, Slash, Andrew Watt, wonderboy producer, writer, hot-sh*t guy of the moment, great musician.

"You've got the Prince Of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne. You've got Sir Elton John, and a drummer from some other band. You've got the f***ing Avengers of rock and roll. It's so f***ing good.

"And at the end of this song, every time I hear it, there's this string thing at the end. We went to Abbey Road, and it's strings and a choir. It's f***ing epic, and every time I hear it, I'm, like, 'And the Grammy goes to...'" Hear the song for yourself here