Alex Van Halen Reveals Ozzy Osbourne Was Approached to Front a Van Halen Album. Why It Never Happened
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10/16/2024 04:05 PM
"It is something that if it had come to fruition, would have been phenomenal," said Osbourne in a new interview with 'Rolling Stone'
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Alex Van Halen in Los Angeles in March 2014; Ozzy Osbourne in New York City in December 2014Wait, Ozzy Osbourne nearly sang lead vocals on a Van Halen album?
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Alex Van Halen revealed the rock band once approached the Black Sabbath musician to front a Van Halen album while its members were between lead singers in 2001.
The late Eddie Van Halen, who died of cancer at age 65 in October 2020, sang lead for the band from its 1972 formation through 1974. Since then, the position has been filled by David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar and Gary Cherone — but around the turn of the millennium, Van Halen was without a lead singer.
Related: Alex Van Halen Says David Lee Roth's Digs at Wolfgang Van Halen Are a 'Sign of Respect'
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Van HalenSo, according to RS, Alex and Eddie met with Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy's wife and manager, to discuss the "Crazy Train" singer potentially delivering lead vocals on the next Van Halen record.
"When you get a dog, you don't expect it to be a cat," Alex told the outlet. "When you get an Ozzy, you get Ozzy. Play the music, he'll sing, and it's gonna be great."
The link-up, however, didn't end up happening, as Ozzy and his family soon inked a deal with MTV for their hit reality show The Osbournes, which ran from 2002-2005.
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Ozzy Osbourne in New York City in December 2014In a statement to RS, Ozzy confirmed the near-collaboration with Van Halen. "Yes, we were discussing it," he said. "It is something that if it had come to fruition, would have been phenomenal."
He added, "Eddie and Alex were great friends of mine for a very long time and it's a regret of mine that we never got it together. The Osbournes got in the way of creating new music at that time, unfortunately."
Elsewhere in the interview, Alex said Van Halen considered a reunion tour following Eddie's death in 2020, but the plan was ultimately canceled because Roth, 70, didn't want to pay tribute to his late bandmate in each concert.
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Alex Van Halen in 1978"The thing that broke the camel's back, and I can be honest about this now, was I said, 'Dave, at some point, we have to have a very overt — not a bowing — but an acknowledgement of Ed in the gig. If you look at how Queen does it, they show old footage,'" Alex said. "And the moment I said we gotta acknowledge Ed, Dave f---in' popped a fuse… The vitriol that came out was unbelievable."
The tour never happened, though Alex told RS it couldn't have anyway, since his 2022 back injury left him unable to play drums.
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Van Halen"I'm from the street. 'You talk to me like that, motherf---er, I'm gonna beat your f---ing brains out. You got it,'" he said of conversations with Roth. "And I mean that. And that's how it ended. It's just, my God. It's like I didn't know him anymore. I have nothing but the utmost respect for his work ethic and all that. But, Dave, you gotta work as a community, motherf---er. It's not you alone anymore."
In a statement, a rep for Roth told PEOPLE Alex's claims about the tour are "nonsense."
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