Ozzy Osbourne has opened up on his fellow rock stars that have reached out to him during his ongoing health issues, noting that while his social circle in the music scene has essentially gotten smaller, he's extremely appreciative of those that have continued to make the effort.
In a new interview with Revolver, Ozzy reveals that he now has a great relationship with fellow Black Sabbath legend Tony Iommi these days, and that the two still text each other regularly.
"Tony, God bless him, he comes to my rescue," he says. "And in actual fact, since we've made up, he's been really supportive. Calls me regularly to see how I'm doing."
"We've had arguments, we've fallen out, we've made up," he adds. "It's just like a marriage. You get divorced, you get back together. But Tony Iommi - and I can never deny this - there's not a man on the face of the earth who comes up with these gutty, dark, heavy riffs. He's the king of riffs."
Ozzy also notes that Korn frontman Jonathan Davis and Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash are two of the names that also still reach out to him - and he has particularly nice words to say on the latter.
"It's amazing when you get sick, how many people don't call anymore," he says. "Slash is a gentleman. He's such a nice man … If I was to phone Slash now and he was in town, whatever I wanted, he'd be around."
Ozzy has been battling a number of health issues in recent years that have forced him to repeatedly postpone touring plans. Despite that, he managed to record and release a critically acclaimed new album, Patient Number 9, which landed last month and featured appearances from Iommi on the songs No Escape From Now and Degradation Rules.
