Ozzy Osbourne had some kind words for a former Black Sabbath bandmate while discussing exceptional guitar players.
"Tony Iommi was and is the best f--king guitar player I've ever played with," he said.
'He's f--king great,' the vocalist said.
The accolades came during an episode of the Madhouse Chronicles podcast, which Osbourne co-hosts with Mick Morrison. A brief preview was posted to Instagram on Tuesday, May 7.
"I've played 'Paranoid,' I've played 'Children of the Grave' and 'War Pigs,'" the vocalist added.
"[Other guitarists] do the notes but it's not the same. I find a lot of the American guys play too fast. Tony Iommi, for whatever reason, he's f--king great"
Osbourne had a different pick when it comes to solo guitarists. The frontman told Loudwire he has a soft spot for Quiet Riot member Randy Rhoads, who also appeared on Osbourne's first two solo albums.
"If I had to say which one of the guitar players you'd rather work with, who was the most musically trained, it was Randy, because he could write, he could read, he could play, he taught at his mother's school and he had patience with me," the vocalist said,
"And he would work with me, as opposed to me having to work on top of what he put down. It was fun!"
Osbourne will soon be enshrined in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist this year. He and Iommi were previously inducted as members of Black Sabbath. Rhoads was also posthumously inducted in 2021.
Earlier this year, Osbourne appeared on Morrison's single "Crack Cocaine," which also included a feature from Steve Stevens.
His new album The Morrison Project dropped on April 19. It also includes collaborations with Al Jourgensen, John5, Corey Taylor and Steve Vai.
"The lyrics just came out of the blue. It was written in about 20 minutes," Osbourne said in a press release.
"The music was a direct result of sitting in a room with Steve, both with de-tuned guitars, and writing what we felt was an ultimate Ozzy riff," Morrison added.
"From there, we brought Ozzy over, and we all sat around working on the lyrics, but 90% of those came from Ozzy himself. He's the one that suddenly stood up and sang 'Like Crack Cocaine'!! We looked at each other and knew we had the title!!"
The comments came during his 'Madhouse Chronicles' podcast, which he co-hosts with Mick Morrison.
At age 75, Osbourne knows he doesn't have much time left. The vocalist has plans for two farewell shows in his native Birmingham.
"He won’t tour again but we are planning on doing two more shows to say goodbye as he feels like ‘I have never said goodbye to my fans and I want to say goodbye properly,'" his wife and manager said earlier this year, according to the Mirror.
"We will do it in Aston Villa where Ozzy is from," Sharon added, which was likely a reference to the Birmingham soccer team's stadium. "His voice is still absolutely perfect. And all the time he has been off he still does his singing lessons so his voice is perfect. And he can joke yeah."
Osbourne plans to play two final shows in his native Birmingham before he died.
Iommi has also been staying busy. Last year, he and System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian joined forces with Gibson CEO Cesar Gueikian to write a new track called "Deconstruction."
Iommi and Queen member Brian May for a three-part documentary series called Greatest Guitar Riffs.
