“Background music to my life”: Slash once explained his personal connection to Black Sabbath
Often, people hear the term “background music” and immediately view it as an insult. This is understandable, as it’s often the case when someone calls something “background music,” they are saying it’s not good enough for undivided attention. However, there are more ways that term can be used, as Slash demonstrates here.
Humans are susceptive to sound. Everywhere we go in life, whether that is music-orientated or not, we are exposed to sound on some level. In that sense, background music isn’t just something that blends into the background but is something that we become so accustomed to it forms an entirely natural part of our lives.
Slash eludes to this when he talks about working with Ozzy Osbourne. When Slash started making his own solo music outside of Guns N’ Roses, he began working with the long list of artists he had made friends with. A lot of these collaborations meant a great deal to him, but none more so than Ozzy Osbourne.
“I’ve known Ozzy for a while; we met in the late 80s,” said Slash, “He’s one of those icons that I sort of grew up with and I’ve had defined experiences listening to Sabbath and listening to Ozzy growing up. It’s like the background music to my life.”
Slash continued, “Anyway, to be sitting next to Ozzy working on one of my songs and him singing into the microphone, to have that voice just sort of casually singing right next to me was definitely an experience. It was very cool.”
Black Sabbath has become the background music to most heavy metal fans in the modern age, not because their music isn’t good or exciting, but because it is embedded into every band making heavy music. They are the blueprint, the foundation, to the extent that it’s hard for anyone with a remote interest in heavy metal to go about their everyday life without hearing that sound in some shape or form.
The sound of Ozzy Osbourne’s voice has become so familiar to fans of heavy metal that it is now as familiar to them as the air they breathe. This is a more positive description of background music, which is what Slash was referring to when he described the band as the same. As a guitarist from one of the best hard rock bands in the ‘80s, it’s unsurprising that Slash would be a fan of Black Sabbath and inspired by them.
The tuned-down strings of Tony Iommi, the mimicking bass lines of Geezer Butler, and the rock-infused tortured vocals of Osbourne laid the groundwork for what made excellent heavy metal music. Ever since then, they have inspired every band in the genre, becoming one of the most natural elements of rock music that there is.
When Guns N’ Roses broke up, a lot of people thought it might be the last time we heard from respective band members, but Slash saw it as an opportunity to work with his favourite artists. It was only natural that he went to Osbourne for help after being influenced by him for so long.
