Ozzy Osbourne has claimed that Jimmy Page ignored an invitation to play on his new album.
The Black Sabbath singer told Metal Hammer in a new interview that he contacted Page about playing on his new album “Patient Number 9”.
“I don’t even know if he plays any more, but I thought getting Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page meant having the greatest guitarists on the planet,” Osbourne told Metal Hammer. “But I never heard from him. Maybe he’d lost his phone or something!”
Osbourne’s comments confirm similar remarks made by Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith in a podcast episode released in April.
Speaking to the Talk Is Jericho podcast, Smith said: “Eric Clapton plays a fucking wah-wah, Cream-type solo. We’re, like, ‘Eric, can you solo on this song? Wah-wah, please. Eric, what do you think about this, with the wah-wah?’ Because that’s his fucking thing. And so he’s soloing all over this other track. Then Jeff Beck is on two songs. We tried to get Jimmy Page, we tried to get the holy trinity, but I don’t think Page plays anymore too much, unfortunately.”
Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton play on Osbourne’s new album and seemingly responded to Osbourne’s outreach.
Ozzy Osbourne and his son Jack Osbourne previously said in a 2016 interview on the show “CONAN” that Ozzy is in touch with Robert Plant directly via telephone, recalling an anecdote of the time Ozzy accidentally messaged Plant about his lost cat.
Jimmy Page has never responded to the claims by Smith and Osbourne that he ignored a request to play on the album, despite some misleading articles claiming otherwise.
Outlets including NME, Loudwire, BraveWords, Guitar.com and MetalCastle have all published stories claiming Page “revealed” or “explained” why he refused to work on Osbourne’s album, but they actually republished comments made by Page in interviews that were unrelated to Osbourne’s album.
Loudwire, for example, uses comments Page made in an interview published in the 300th issue of Classic Rock magazine that was released in April in which he responded to a question about what he’s been working on over the past two years.
It also republished part of an interview Page gave to GQ for its December 2020 issue to make it seem like that was his response to Osbourne’s album.
Well……He doesn’t play anymore & hasn’t in a LONG
time. I don’t think he ever will play professionally again,
although he could still step in at a show here n there. Tht’s what he’s done for 20 years, dunno why anyone expects anything different.
Jimmy Page needs to answer to NO ONE!
I wish there were emojis for this one. *heart, heart, heart, heart*
Jimmy most definitely can still play…he probably,as he has in the past picks and chooses what he lays down on anything.
You have to remember that this guy has nothing better to do now than solidify the legacy of Led Zeppelin…his legacy.
Don’t blame the guy