In a new interview with Capital Chaos TV, CROWBAR frontman and DOWN guitarist Kirk Windstein paid tribute to legendary BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne, who died late last month at the age of 76. Kirk said: “Ozzy is Ozzy. There will only ever be one. BLACK SABBATH, to me, are the godfathers of heavy metal. They created heavy metal. Yeah, bands like [LED] ZEPPELIN had metal elements, and I love ZEPPELIN, but SABBATH didn’t dabble in folk or acoustic stuff. They went straight into the heavy.
“Ozzy was a once-in-a-lifetime person,” Kirk continued. “I’ve enjoyed his music with SABBATH and as a solo artist for so many years.
“It’s sad. We’re losing our heroes, the people who inspired us to play music. But it’s part of life.
“As a guy who makes a living playing heavy music, all I can do is try to honor what those guys gave us,” Windstein added.
“Ozzy will be missed forever. But like someone said online, ‘Just push play’.”
Five years ago, Windstein was asked by Outburn magazine if BLACK SABBATH had always been built into his DNA and is still one of his biggest influences. He responded: “Yeah. On a previous interview, I can’t remember if I used the word ‘subliminal’ or not, but yeah, it’s one of those things where I’ve listened to so much SABBATH. And the thing is, of course, I listened to them in the ’70s when they were popular, but I’m actually a fan of the [Ronnie James] Dio era of SABBATH. I really got into SABBATH big time around the late ’80s and early ’90s when CROWBAR was being formed. I’d listen to the whole catalog every day. So, it’s something that’s definitely, as you said, in my DNA, without even thinking about it. I try to do my best Tony Iommi here and there, even with all the clean guitar stuff on [my debut solo album, 2020’s ‘Dream In Motion’], and the majority of it is clean guitar. There was a lot of clean guitar on SABBATH stuff as well. I think it’s one of those things that I do. I have my own writing style, which I try to improve upon every time I write a song. I think a lot of it, without even trying, is automatically influenced by SABBATH.”
Ozzy died the morning of July 22, his family announced in a statement.
“It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time,” the family said.
No cause of death was given, but Osbourne had battled a number of health issues over the past several years, including Parkinson’s disease and injuries he sustained from a late-night fall in 2019.
