Black Sabbath fans were left outraged by Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters, whose comments on Ozzy Osbourne were described as “too soon”.
Waters lashed out at the Black Sabbath frontman, who died on July 22 this year, in a recent interview with The Independent Ink. The songwriter behind Amused to Death and The Wall said he doesn’t care about Black Sabbath and that he “couldn’t give a fuck” about their musical legacy. Waters, who is no stranger to controversy, went on to say he had “no interest” in the group’s decades of activity, and also referenced the infamous bat-biting moment. Osbourne would claim in interviews after the incident that he believed it was a fake, rubber bat thrown onto the stage. Nonetheless, it did not impress Waters, and his comments did not impress Black Sabbath fans, with many suggesting it was “too soon” to criticise Osbourne.
A post to the r/BlackSabbath subreddit saw fans rally around the late songwriter, and many used it as a chance to share their preference for Pink Floyd guitarist, David Gilmour. Waters and Gilmour’s back and forth is legendary, with no signs of the pair ever reconciling or performing together again.
One Black Sabbath fan wrote: “This is why they don’t play together anymore. I’m not much into celebrity culture beefs and all that, but David Gilmour seems like a class act compared to Roger Waters, and I don’t blame him for not working with Roger anymore. That guy’s a pompous asshole. He proves it all the time.”
Another added: “Pink Floyd may be my favourite band, but I respect Ozzy way more than Roger.” A third wrote: “I love Roger’s music, but his biggest weakness has always been that he doesn’t know when to shut up.”
Others believe Osbourne’s son, Jack Osbourne, had the perfect response to Waters’ comments. He shared on his social media page: “Hey @rogerwaters fuck you. How pathetic and out of touch you’ve become. The only way you seem to get attention these days is by vomiting out bullshit in the press. My father always thought you were a cunt – thanks for proving him right.”
Fans rallied behind Osbourne’s comments, with one saying his son had every right to lash out at the music legend given the family “is still grieving the loss” of the Paranoid hitmaker. One fan wrote: “Perfect response from Jack.
“What a fucking rude and heartless thing to say while the family is still grieving the loss. We all know David Gilmour was always the talented one anyway.” Another added: “I know, right. It’s only been 6 weeks. Too soon. I mean, it’s rude anyway, but way too soon.”
A third suggested there was a startling difference between Osbourne and Waters when it came to their discography. They wrote: “Roger, unlike Ozzy, never realised he could only work as good as his collaborations. Which is why Ozzy has a big discography and Roger lives on fumes of his history.”
Despite Waters’ decades-long disinterest in Black Sabbath (he would say Evil Woman left him “speechless” with how underwhelming it was), Osbourne was apparently a huge Pink Floyd fan. His praise for Money and Obscured by Clouds is well documented, and the Iron Man hitmaker believed Pink Floyd never made a bad album.
He said: “I can’t think of an individual song, but I really like their album Obscured By Clouds. That was the soundtrack, wasn’t it? I remember listening to it while I was high on drugs. It had those weird bubbles on the cover. The Floyd made good albums; I don’t think they ever made a bad one.” You can watch Waters’ full interview below.
