Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2024: Jack Black calls Ozzy Osbourne “the Jack Nicholson of rock”
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included another group of stellar inductees in 2024, but Ozzy Osbourne naturally garnered a significant portion of the attention for being on that list.
Having previously been inducted into the Hall of Fame back in 2006 for his invaluable contributions to rock history with Black Sabbath, the committee chose to honour Osbourne’s acclaimed solo career this year by inviting him once again.
The person assigned to handle Osbourne’s induction was none other than Jack Black, the actor-musician who is not only a massive fan of rock music but counts Osbourne among his biggest sources of artistic inspiration.
During the induction speech, Black opened up about his personal connection to Osbourne’s music while also touching upon the many ways in which the icon changed the metal genre forever.
Black said, “Plumber, car horn tuner, slaughterhouse worker, the greatest frontman in the history of rock and roll. Ozzy Osbourne… I remember the first time I heard of Ozzy. I was 13 years old, wandering around the record store. What should I get? Sticks? Journey? An older rock aficionado noticed my indecision, and he said, ‘Stop fucking around, kid. This is the album you need to get, the Blizzard of Ozz.’ Man, was he right!”
Continuing, “This motherfucker invented heavy metal, along with Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, and the immortal Tony Iommi, the darkest, heaviest shit the world had ever heard. And through all that power, Ozzy’s voice carving through the Sonic Blast Furnace like an air raid siren, he made the hairs on the back of my neck stand at Attention. Clear and crisp as a morning bell, and that smile, he looked so happy, he looked insane. So much charisma, the Jack Nicholson of rock.”
Addressing the teenagers who were watching the show, Black urged them to check out Osbourne’s incredible oeuvre if they were really interested in broadening their musical horizons and having their minds blown.
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