Ozzy Osbourne and Billy Idol guitarist Billy Morrison have joined forces once again for a new single called ‘Gods of Rock N Roll.’
Osbourne announced the song on Instagram along with a photo with Morrison. The song, following their hit ‘Crack Cocaine,’ has music by Cinderella drummer Fred Coury, played by the 61-piece Budapest Scoring Orchestra and the John Burroughs High School choir. Morrison’s bandmate, Steve Stevens, added a guitar solo.
‘Gods of Rock N Roll’ first appeared as ‘Gods’ on Morrison’s 2015 album ‘God Shaped Hole.’ The new version will be on the deluxe digital edition of his 2024 album ‘The Morrison Project,’ coming out next week. The original album included Al Jourgensen, John 5, Corey Taylor, and Steve Vai. The deluxe edition has a collaboration with Cypress Hill.
“Ozzy and I have breathed new life into what we always felt was a huge song,” Morrison shared in a statement, via Ultimate Classic Rock. “‘Gods of Rock N Roll’ was written 10 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.”
Osbourne also spoke with Kerrang! about the record and said, “Billy and I wrote ‘Gods of Rock N Roll’ together in a hotel room while I was touring in South America about 10 years ago. This re-recorded version of the song finally has all the bells and whistles. I told Billy then that it needed an orchestra and a choir, but it took 10 f*cking years for him to listen to me.”
The song recently entered Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart before its official release, per NME. Morrison premiered it on SiriusXM’s Ozzy’s Boneyard channel last month. Since then, it has been played on other radio stations and reached Number 26 on the chart.
Osbourne will perform his final concert and reunite with the original Black Sabbath lineup for the ‘Back to the Beginning’ show on July 5 at Villa Park in Birmingham, England.
