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Friday, January 28, 2011

Justin Bieber Is The Latest In The List Of Ozzy Osbourne's Unlikely Collaborators



Over the course of his still young career, Justin Bieber has managed to appeal to people across a number of different genre lines. His ubiquity in the pop world is undeniable, and he is continuously picking up credibility in the R&B and hip-hop worlds as well (thanks to a number of key collaborations and endorsements). However, it's unlikely that Bieber will appeal to the metal community any time soon, though that could certainly change when the Super Bowl rolls around. Bieber will appear alongside Ozzy Osbourne in an advertisement for Best Buy that will air during the big game on Sunday night, February 6. The content of the ad is being kept under wraps, but it marks the first time that Bieber will be teaming up with Osbourne and will certainly make for unlikely bedfellows for both of them.

However, despite his well-earned reputation as a badass, Ozzy has been collaborating with unlikely partners throughout his career. He has teamed with some expected partners (like Mótórhead, and Type O Negative), but there are just as many oddball, left-field pairings like these.

Busta Rhymes
When Busta was putting together his 1998 album E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front, he wanted to use the iconic riff from Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" for the album-closing track "This Means War!!" But rather than just use the sample, he went ahead and brought Osbourne in to lay down a fresh vocal line for the chorus. Strangely, it was one of a string of hip-hop friendly collaborations for Osbourne.

Crystal Method, DMX and Ol' Dirty Bastard
To give you an idea of how huge "South Park" was when it first started, a record label paid a million dollars just for the opportunity to be the distributor of the show's soundtrack (which manifested as Chef Aid: The South Park Album, released in 1998). What did that money buy? Crazy-ass guest stars and unlikely team-ups. For instance, the first song on the album (after the theme song to the TV show) was "Nowhere to Run," a noisy, unprecedented collaboration between the Crystal Method (who laid down the music) and vocalists DMX, Ol' Dirty Bastard and Osbourne. It represented not only Osbourne's hip-hop crossover but also his one dalliance with the then-huge electronica movement.

Was (Not Was), Madonna and Kim Basinger
Outside-the-box pop group Was (Not Was) drafted Ozzy into singing lead vocals on their 1982 track "Shake Your Head (Let's Go to Bed)," which was a strange enough combination. But it only gets stranger when you add Madonna to the mix (she provided backing vocals), and gets surreal when you consider Madonna wanted her vocals taken out of the remastered version for the Was (Not Was) hits package and actress Kim Basinger filled in for her.

Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan's "For Heaven's Sake" (from their 1997 double album Wu-Tang Forever) already had a doomsday vibe to it thanks to the haunting production by the RZA. But Osbourne and Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi added an extra bit of end-of-the-world dread when they recorded a new version of the track for the rap-meets-metal compilation Loud Rocks in 2000. Most of Loud Rocks doesn't work, but the new version of "For Heaven's Sake" is pretty jaw-dropping.

Dweezil Zappa
What's the strangest thing about this collaboration, which was a cover of the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive"? The fact that it's a cover of a Bee Gees song? The fact that it came from a whole album's worth of metal covers of Bee Gees tunes? The fact that Frank Zappa named one of his sons Dweezil? Or the fact that it actually sounds kind of good?

Miss Piggy
For the Muppets-meet-rockers compilation album Kermit Unpigged, Osbourne teamed up with everybody's favorite high-maintenance porcine star and cranked out a version of Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild." It's not the best cover in the world, though it is Ozzy's greatest experience with felt.

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