Credit: Sean RiciglianoTom Morello is no stranger to high-profile collaborations, having played with Bruce Springsteen, rap group Wu-Tang Clan, and, of course, Chris Cornell in Audioslave. At this weekend's Voodoo Music + Arts Experience festival, the Rage Against the Machine guitarist will be joining another legend on stage when he performs with Ozzy Osbourne. As a fan of both Black Sabbath and Ozzy's solo material, Morello is understandably very excited to play alongside the Prince of Darkness.
"I grew up as metal as can be in the northern suburbs of Chicago. It was all about hard rock and heavy metal," Morello tells Maxim. "So Ozzy's solo work and Sabbath were always very high on my list. I was a huge fan of [Black Sabbath guitarist] Tony Iommi's riff writing and of [Osbourne's solo guitarist] Randy Rhoads' extraordinary guitar playing. To be able to dust off a few of those gems and play them in front of 50,000 people is something I'm looking forward to."
Morello is particularly a fan of of Rhoads, whom he named his first-born son after.
"[Rhoads] was first and foremost a musician, and secondly a rock star, and that always appealed to me," Morello says. "So being able to play with Ozzy on some of Randy's songs is another check off the bucket list."
Slash and Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler will join Morello and Osbourne for the Voodoo show. Morello, Osbourne and Butler will play together again at this year's Ozzfest Japan, with Jane's Addiction's Dave Navarro in place of Slash. In between his sets with legends, Morello has also been working on his new solo album, which he refers to as a "huge rock record."
"The notion of this record is the '[Jimi] Hendrix of Now,'" explains Morello. "I want to put all my guitar riffs and abilities on the table, but in the context of working with producers not traditionally known for rock music, and still making a very heavy record, people like Bassnectar and Skrillex. We're about halfway done. It's going to be some of the hugest music you've ever heard."
As for Rage Against the Machine, Morello says there are "no plans."
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