Ozzy Osbourne Calls Cardigans' Cover of 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' the 'Creepiest Thing He'd Ever Heard'

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In the 1990s, the Swedish pop-rock band The Cardigans recorded a cover of Black Sabbath's 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' that left Ozzy Osbourne, the Prince of Darkness himself, thoroughly creeped out. Frontwoman Nina Persson's feather-light vocals juxtaposed with the heavy metal lyrics made for a 'wonderfully creepy' rendition, according to Persson. Osbourne, who attended one of The Cardigans' shows in Los Angeles with his family, praised the cover as the 'creepiest thing he'd ever heard'.

Why it matters

The Cardigans' unexpected cover of a classic Black Sabbath song highlights the band's ability to take a hypermasculine heavy metal track and transform it into something unsettling and paranormal-sounding through the use of feminine vocals. This cover showcases the group's creative versatility and willingness to subvert expectations, which helped establish their reputation as an eclectic and innovative pop-rock act.

The details

The Cardigans recorded four covers of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath songs, including 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,' which appeared on their 1994 debut album 'Emmerdale.' Frontwoman Nina Persson has said she tried to embody the 'Prince of Darkness' persona while recording the vocals, even going so far as to keep a dead bat in front of her while singing in the attic of the countryside house where they were recording. Persson's delicate vocals combined with the dark, heavy metal lyrics created a 'wonderfully creepy' effect that unnerved even Osbourne himself when he attended one of the band's shows in the 1990s.

• The Cardigans recorded their cover of 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' in 1994 for their debut album 'Emmerdale'.
• Ozzy Osbourne attended a Cardigans show in Los Angeles in the 1990s and praised the band's cover as the 'creepiest thing he'd ever heard'.

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