Tag: Ozzy Osbourne

Entertainment, Guitar World Interviews, Interview, Music

Brad Gillis Talks Night Ranger’s ‘Midnight Madness,’ Touring with Ozzy
Me with Brad Gillis

Last year, Night Ranger celebrated the 35th anniversary of their debut album, Dawn Patrol by releasing an all new record, Don’t Let Up! The album’s title is fairly appropriate, once you consider that the band, whose beginnings go back to the early days of MTV, is still going strong in the 21st century.

Proving that they have no intention of slowing down, Night Ranger—which consists of Jack Blades, Brad Gillis, Kelly Keagy, Eric Levy and Keri Kelli—will celebrate the 35th anniversary of the band’s monster 1983 album, Midnight Madness and songs like “(You Can Still) Rock in America,” “When You Close Your Eyes” and “Touch of Madness,” with a tour.

Guitar World recently spoke with guitarist Brad Gillis about all things Night Ranger, his current rig, and his memories of touring with Ozzy Osbourne.

This year is marks the 35th anniversary of Midnight Madness. What do you remember most about that whole era?

In the mid-Eighties, we were we were probably on the road nine months out of the year. Then for the remainder of the year, we’d be in the studio recording another record. It was a yearlong job but we had a blast. I’ll never forget pulling into the Coliseum in La Crosse, Wisconsin in late ’83 or ’84 and seeing the marquee that read, ‘Night Ranger—Sold Out.’ That was very pivotal moment in our career.

People may not know this, but back in 1982, you had two albums come out in the same week, Night Ranger’s Dawn Patrol and Ozzy Osbourne’s double-live album, Speak of the Devil. What made you decide to leave Ozzy and go full-time with Night Ranger?

Although we’d done a lot of shows and recorded Speak of the Devil, toward the end of 1982 Rudy [Sarzo] had already decided to leave Ozzy to go join Quiet Riot. I decided to roll the dice and go with Night Ranger because we also had a deal pending. Radio was changing back then and playing heavier stuff, but I remember, even after “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” had been released, we weren’t sure if it would do well. Fortunately, MTV had just come out and needed content. They ended up playing our video about 25 times a day.

Our record company really did us a favor back then by holding off on the release of “Sister Christian” on the Dawn Patrol album. They knew that it would become a hit and wanted us to come out heavy with our “sophomore” release [Midnight Madness]. That ended up being our biggest record and took us to headliner status.

Read the rest of my
Interview with Brad Gillis by Clicking Here!

Guitar World Interviews, Interview, Music

Ozzy Osbourne and Billy Morrison Talk New Single and Black Sabbath’s Final Tour

Billy MorrisonLast week, U.K. musician Billy Morrison—who plays in guitar for Billy Idol—released a solo album, God Shaped Hole, via his own King Mob Music label.

On the disc, Morrison is joined by Idol bandmates Steve Stevens and Erik Eldenius, plus Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro and none other than Ozzy Osbourne, who sings lead vocals on “Gods,” which he co-wrote with Morrison.

In this exclusive interview, I spoke with Morrison and Osbourne about the new track, Morrison’s album and, as you’ll see, a lot more.

GUITAR WORLD: Ozzy, How did you and Billy get together for “Gods”?

OSBOURNE: Billy’s been a longtime friend of mine. He called me up one day and when I asked him what he was doing he said, “I’m making an album.” That’s when I said, “Well, I’d love to sing on your album!” So we got together, worked up a couple of melody lines and it literally took us half an hour to write.

Billy, when someone like Ozzy tells you he wants to sing on one of your tracks, what goes through your mind?

MORRISON: If the Prince of Darkness says he wants to sing on your record, you don’t say “No,” now do you? I remember Ozzy sent me a text that said, “Do you have a ballad?” and I said, “Yeah!” But of course, I didn’t! [laughs]. So I wrote the music and took it down to South America when we both went and we literally wrote it in about 20 minutes. It was amazing watching him write those lyrics.

OSBOURNE: And I’m not just blowing smoke up your ass when I say it came that quick. I even remember saying to Billy, “You know? I don’t think we wrote this song. I think it was given to us by someone.” Because you can literally sit in a rehearsal room for months and not come up with anything. But then there are times when you just strike gold, and it’s a great feeling when you do something like that. It’s like giving birth… but without the pain!

Read the rest of my
gw_logoInterview with Ozzy & Billy Morrison Here!

Guitar World Interviews, Interview, Music

I Am the Fire: Gus G Discusses Debut Solo Album and Working with Ozzy Osbourne

Gus GGuitarist Gus G has spent the better part of the last decade solidifying his place as one of metal’s reigning guitar virtuosos.

He’s recorded more than a dozen studio albums and performed around the world as a member of Arch Enemy, Dream Evil and Firewind. And let’s not forget he was handpicked by Ozzy Osbourne in 2009 to become his new guitarist.

But Gus G’s debut solo album, I Am The Fire, which will be released March 18, is a new adventure. The album, which was mixed by Jay Ruston (Anthrax, Stone Sour, Steel Panther), gives Gus the opportunity to explore a different side of his creativity and showcases his skills as a producer and songwriter.

Apart from a few signature Gus G instrumentals (“Vengeance” and “Terrified”), I Am the Fire veers away from the traditional heavy/power metal vibe and leans more toward a straight-ahead classic rock sound. The album also features a multitude of guests, including vocalists Mats Levén and Jeff Scott Soto and bassists Billy Sheehan and David Ellefson.

I recently spoke with Gus G about I Am the Fire, his playing and how he got the gig with Ozzy.

GUITAR WORLD: How did the I Am the Fire project begin?

I had some time off with Ozzy because he was busy with the Black Sabbath reunion and started coming up with ideas that didn’t really seem like a Firewind record.

They were more on the hard rock side of things rather than metal. One singer I’ve always wanted to write with was Mats Levén, who sang on the Yngwie Malmsteen album Facing the Animal. We’ve known each other for about 10 years and had always talked about doing something together. So I sent him a few demos, and that’s what got things started.

gw_logoRead the rest of my Guitar World Interview with Gus G by Clicking Here!