Ozzy Osbourne had a few special guests play on his upcoming new album Patient Number 9, but there was one more that he wanted — Jimmy Page, who’s already explained why he turned down the offer earlier this year. However, in a new interview, Osbourne revealed that the guitarist never even answered him at all.
The Led Zeppelin legend addressed the attempted collaboration back in April, noting that he had various projects of his own that he’d been working on. He told Classic Rock [via NME] that he ultimately declined to work on the project because he “will never be one of those people who’ll record alone and send someone a file. I never went into music in the first place to do that – it was for playing together.”
Apparently, the Prince of Darkness isn’t aware of Page’s reasoning, as he’s shared that wasn’t even able to get ahold of him personally.
“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!”
Imagine leaving Ozzy Osbourne on read? If Page had accepted, he’d have been in company with with fellow guitarists Tony Iommi, Zakk Wylde and Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready on the album, in addition to Clapton and Beck. Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan, Metallica’s Robert Trujillo and late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins all contributed to the record as well.
Patient Number 9 will be out Sept. 9. Pre-order your copy here now.