Ozzy Osbourne chooses his favorite Pink Floyd song

Osbourne and his groundbreaking heavy metal band Black Sabbath followed the example of psychedelic-era phenomena such as Pink Floyd and the Beatles, appreciating a solid groove adorned with progressive textures. While Pink Floyd built on the Beatles’ more complex experimental material, Sabbath seemed to be picking up the reins that Paul McCartney had loosened after recording “Helter Skelter.” With this punchy hard-rock energy, Osbourne and his dark menagerie crafted decidedly macabre and unholy themes.

In keeping with their hardcore aesthetic, Osbourne and Black Sabbath consumed hard drugs in hedonistic abundance. The early Sabbath albums were recorded in studio rooms wafting with cannabis smoke, but the band accepted whatever was thrown at them. Fortunately, the copious amounts of LSD Sabbath consumed did not deter them from their associative themes, and they turned to acoustic songs about sunshine and daisies.

Speak with Classic RockOsbourne recalled the creation of the Black Sabbath album Volume 4 as the peak of his LSD consumption. “At that time, it was very popular in America to spike drinks with LSD,” he said. “I didn’t care. I always swallowed several tablets at once.”

After the publication of Volume 4Osbourne and his bandmates continued to tour and encounter psychedelic drugs everywhere. In 1973, the singer was particularly enthusiastic about Pink Floyd’s masterpiece album, The dark side of the moonAlthough psych-rocker and LSD enthusiast Barrett was no longer with the band at this point, the album became popular among psychonauts of the post-hippie era.

More than any other track on the album, Osbourne was obsessed with “Money.” It’s one of the heaviest tracks on the record, bouncing along on a gorgeous, blues-inspired groove. In a 2004 feature with Rolling Stonehe chose the song as one of his top ten favorite songs of all time and simply commented: “Reminds me of my LSD days. I’m glad I survived.”

In fact, it’s remarkable that Osbourne survived into his late 70s, considering how much he abused drugs and alcohol over the years. Although LSD is hardly toxic and doesn’t usually cause physical harm, its psychological effects can be dramatic and aren’t always short-term. Osbourne’s wake-up call came in the mid-1970s, when he returned to Britain after several years across the Atlantic. “The end came when we were back in England,” he recalls. “I took ten LSD tablets and then went for a walk in a field. I stood there talking to this horse for about an hour. At the end, the horse turned around and told me to fuck off. That was it for me.”

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