Billy Morrison, Billy Idol’s rhythm guitar player for the past 15 years, joins forces with Ozzy Osbourne and Billy Idol’s lead guitarist Steve Stevens for a seismic collaboration: Crack Cocaine, released yesterday. The single is produced by Billy Morrison and Steve Stevens.
Crack Cocaine is the second single from Morrison’s new solo album, The Morrison Project, out 19th April via the Label Group’s partnership with TLG|ZOID through Virgin Music Group.
The single was co-written by Morrison, Osbourne, and Stevens who all appear in the music video for Crack Cocaine which spotlights Paris Jackson playing the glamorous/romantic interest. There are also cameos from visual artist Risk and actor Jeff Hilliard.
Crack Cocaine marks the first new song with Ozzy Osbourne on vocals sinceOsbourne’s 2022 double Grammy Award-winning album Patient Number 9. “I was in the same room as Billy and Steve,” says Ozzy about co-writing the song. “The lyrics just came out of the blue. It was written in about 20 minutes.”
“The music was a direct result of sitting in a room with Steve, both with de-tuned guitars,” Billy Morrison explains, “and writing what we felt was an ultimate Ozzy riff. From there we brought Ozzy over and 90% of the lyrics came from him. Ozzy suddenly stood up and sang ‘Like Crack Cocaine!’ We looked at each other and knew we had the title!
“The song is 100% about how certain relationships can FEEL like an addiction. It’s nothing whatsoever to do with the drug! It’s a comparison – it’s exactly like a drug addiction.”
“Billy and I discussed what an Ozzy fan would really love to hear,” adds Steve Stevens. “We zeroed in on the ‘90’s-era Ozzy – the truly heavy stuff. Obviously, as a guitarist, to contribute to an Ozzy song is like a kid in a candy store. He’s played with such an amazing array of guitarists that I tried my best to honour that tradition.”
Crack Cocaine is the second single/video from The Morrison Project and follows the single/video for Drowning. The Morrison Project is Billy Morrison’s third solo album and his first since 2015. He has assembled 12 electrifying songs with guest performances by Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Idol, DMC, Al Jourgensen, Steve Vai, Tommy Clufetos, John5, and more. All the songs on the album were written by Billy Morrison in collaboration with his guests. The album was produced by Billy Morrison and mixed by Barry Pointer.
Watch the video for the new single here: