Zakk Wylde has once again said that he isn't bothered by the fact that he has no involvement with Ozzy Osbourne's upcoming album. Earlier in the year, Ozzy revealed that he was working on a new LP with producer Andrew Watt, who previously helmed the legendary BLACK SABBATH singer's 12th solo effort, last year's "Ordinary Man". Wylde, who didn't appear on "Ordinary Man", told Classic Rock that he wasn't disappointed to be excluded from the effort. "Not at all," he said. "I thought he and Andrew Watt did a great job. And I'm not on the new one either. Again it's Ozz and Andrew. I understand why I'm not in the studio. Ozz once said to me that he didn't want to be the lead singer in BLACK LABEL SOCIETY: 'You have your own thing now, so go to it.' "I don't have to be involved in everything Ozz does. I'll always be there for him and Sharon. If they call now and ask me to go over to feed their dogs for three days… I'm there." Asked if he expected to be in Ozzy's touring band for 2022, Zakk said: "Yes, I will be. Ozz is getting himself back healthy, and then we'll be back out on the road." This past April, Zakk told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he checked out some of the songs on "Ordinary Man" and liked what he heard. "It came out cool," he said. "I saw the videos and everything like that. It's cool, man. And Andrew and everything like that — yeah, it was rocking." Watt connected with Osbourne after meeting Ozzy's daughter Kelly at a friend's party and pitching her on the idea of Post Malone and Ozzy collaborating together. Four months ago, Ozzy told U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine that he and Andrew had completed "15 tracks" for his next studio LP. "My only concern right now is finishing the bloody thing," he said. "We've got the same production time as the last time, so there's definitely going to be some similarities. But you'll just have to wait and see what you think." In December, Watt told Guitar World that he and the BLACK SABBATH legend were "halfway through" the new LP. "There's some songs on there that are like eight or nine minutes long that are these really crazy journeys. I'm really excited about it," he said. Like "Ordinary Man", which featured Watt on guitar, Duff McKagan (GUNS N' ROSES) on bass and Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS) on drums, Ozzy's next album will feature guest appearances by a number of notable musicians. "There's a bunch of people involved," Andrew told Guitar World. "I can't say for sure until the end, but I started doing a bunch of basic tracks with Chad and Robert Trujillo [METALLICA], who used to play in Ozzy's band. And Taylor Hawkins [FOO FIGHTERS] also came in and played a bunch on the record as well, which adds a different flair — it kind of harkened back to Ozzy's '80s era, in a great way. And I think it's so cool for a rock fan to be able to listen to half an album with Chad Smith on drums, and then you flip it over and you get to hear Taylor Hawkins. And you know, the last album was really special for everyone involved. And so there was no point in Ozzy or me doing this again unless we thought we could bring something new to the table. And I feel like we're achieving that." In July 2020, Ozzy said that he was still "not back to 100 percent" after suffering from several medical issues last year, including a fall, neck surgery and hospitalization for the flu. Ozzy also said that he was looking forward to performing again once he has regained his health and the coronavirus pandemic has subsided. The BLACK SABBATH singer had previously canceled all his 2019 tour plans, and the rescheduled 2020 shows were also scrapped. Ozzy was also forced to cancel an April 2020 trip to Switzerland to see a doctor who specializes in treatment of Parkinson's disease. The singer revealed early last year that he was diagnosed with the condition. Photo credit: Mark Weiss Photography
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