Billy Morrison, longtime guitarist for punk icon Billy Idol, has teamed up with The Prince Of Darkness himself Ozzy Osbourne for a brand new single. The track, titled Crack Cocaine, is the latest song to be released from Morrison's upcoming, third solo album, The Morrison Project, out April 19.
The single, a stomping, heavy metal banger not unlike some of Ozzy's classic solo material, also features Billy Idol's lead guitarist Steve Stevens, and while it may have a seemingly on-the-nose title, as the duo explain, the song itself isn't actually about cocaine at all.
“I was in the same room as Billy and Steve,” explains Ozzy when describing how the track came together. “The lyrics just came out of the blue. It was written in about 20 minutes.”
“The music was a direct result of sitting in a room with Steve, both with de-tuned guitars,” Billy Morrison adds, “and writing what we felt was an ultimate Ozzy riff. From there we brought Ozzy over and 90% of the lyrics came from him. Ozzy suddenly stood up and sang ‘Like Crack Cocaine!’ We looked at each other and knew we had the title!
“The song is 100% about how certain relationships can feel like an addiction," Morrison adds. "It’s nothing whatsoever to do with the drug! It’s a comparison - it’s exactly like a drug addiction.”
“Billy and I discussed what an Ozzy fan would really love to hear,” says Steve Stevens. “We zeroed in on the ‘90’s-era Ozzy - the truly heavy stuff. Obviously, as a guitarist, to contribute to an Ozzy song is like a kid in a candy store. He’s played with such an amazing array of guitarists that I tried my best to honour that tradition.”
The song marks the first new material featuring Osbourne since the release of his critically acclaimed 2022 album, Patient Number 9. Watch the video for Crack Cocaine below.
