He doesn’t ask much, he just wants you…to stop using his music. Ozzy Osbourne is coming after Kanye West for using a version of Black Sabbath classic “War Pigs” despite never receiving permission to do so. Ozzy apparently refused to lend the track to Kanye, citing the controversial rapper’s anti-semitic remarks. Come on, Ozzy, maybe Kanye just couldn’t read the response?
Ozzy took to X to write that Kanye West “ASKED PERMISSION TO SAMPLE A SECTION OF A 1983 LIVE PERFORMANCE OF “IRON MAN” FROM THE US FESTIVAL WITHOUT VOCALS & WAS REFUSED PERMISSION BECAUSE HE IS AN ANTISEMITE AND HAS CAUSED UNTOLD HEARTACHE TO MANY. HE WENT AHEAD AND USED THE SAMPLE ANYWAY AT HIS ALBUM LISTENING PARTY LAST NIGHT. I WANT NO ASSOCIATION WITH THIS MAN!” (Not that it really matters, but Kanye actually used a sample of “War Pigs” and not “Iron Man”. However, “Iron Man” was previously sampled on Kanye’s Grammy-winning My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album.)
Ozzy Osbourne’s longtime wife, Sharon, doubled down on Kanye, saying he “f*cked with the wrong Jew this time,” referring to herself. They went on to send a cease and desist over the usage.
It might be worth noting that Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne actually went as Kanye West and Bianca Censori for Halloween last year, well after Kanye made on-the-record comments that would eventually see him missing out on numerous lucrative endorsements, with his Adidas deal pegged to be worth $1.5 billion. While the couple’s costume could be seen as a dig at the way Kanye and Censori present their public persona, some have come after Ozzy for displaying some hypocrisy: he wants “no association” with the rapper yet will dress as him for a Halloween costume?
Ozzy Osbourne, who turned 75 in December, was recently nominated for a solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If he makes the cut, he will join a rather commendable list of people inducted twice, including Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson and every Beatle. Black Sabbath was inducted in 2006.
What do you make of Ozzy Osbourne’s comments about Kanye West? Do you see Kanye stepping down after a cease and desist?