Billy Idol guitarist Billy Morrison and Ozzy Osbourne have teamed up for a new song, Gods Of Rock N Roll.
The rock ballad, an orchestral reworking of the former's song Gods from his 2015 solo album 'God Shaped Hole', features the Budapest Scoring Orchestra, with Morrison on guitar, Osbourne on vocals, and Steve Stevens on lead guitar. Morrison said:
"Ozzy and I have breathed new life into what we always felt was a huge song. Gods Of Rock N Roll was written ten years ago in a South American hotel room, but with this re-recording we both feel we have finally made the song what it was always meant to be - a huge emotive ballad.
"A huge portion of the song was completely re-recorded, the 61 piece Budapest Scoring Orchestra recorded the orchestral score composed by Fred Coury, and then the John Burroughs High School choir were added. Barry Pointer had the unenviable task of mixing 132 tracks and he did an incredible job. The end result is what happens when Ozzy Osbourne makes some suggestions, and Billy Morrison listens!"
The track will feature on the deluxe edition of Morrison's 2024 star-studded third solo album, 'The Morrison Project', due out next Friday (February 21). The expanded version will also include another five previously unreleased bonus tracks, as well as a stripped down mix of Gods Of Rock N Roll featuring just the orchestra and Osbourne.
Commenting on the song's video, Morrison continued: "Having the opportunity to include everyone that was involved in the making of Gods of Rock ‘n’ Roll and shoot it all for the video at NRG Studios was a dream come true for me. It was an amazing vibe, Ivo the Director captured the intimacy, and the fun that we had, and I believe the video truly represents the spirit of the song that Ozzy and I wrote. It’s wide reaching, cinematic and shows just how amazing Ozzy is to work with. I’m honored to be putting this out into the world."
Osbourne, 76, will reunite with the other original members of Black Sabbath this summer for their first performance together in 20 years. The heavy metal pioneers — Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward — will perform a special concert billed as Back To The Beginning on July 5 at Birmingham's Villa Park, which will see Ozzy play his own set before joining Sabbath for what will be his final performance.
Support will come from heavy metal icons inspired by Sabbath, including Metallica, Pantera, Slayer, Halestorm, Alice In Chains, Gojira, Anthrax, Lamb Of God and Mastodon, plus a "supergroup of musicians" featuring Duff McKagan and Slash of Guns N' Roses, Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, Lzzy Hale of Halestorm, and Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine. .
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