"Under the Graveyard" is a

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romance (love), romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn m ...

by English heavy metal musician

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

. Written and produced with Andrew Watt, it was released as the vocalist's first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in eight years on 8 November 2019. The song was released as the lead single of, and packaged with, Osbourne's twelfth studio album '' Ordinary Man'' in 2020, which was his first album since ''

Scream Scream may refer to: *Screaming, a loud vocalization Amusement rides * Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany * Scream! (ride), a tower ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England * Scream! (roller coaster), at ...

'' in 2010. The song features Watt on guitar, Guns N' Roses bassist

Duff McKagan Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964), sometimes credited as Duff "Rose" McKagan, is an American musician. He played bass for twelve years in the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late ...

and

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...

drummer

Chad Smith Chad Gaylord Smith (born October 25, 1961) is an American musician who has been the drummer of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers since 1988. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Smith is also the drummer of the ...

. The song reached number one on the US

Mainstream Rock chart Mainstream Rock is a music chart in '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched i ...

in December 2019. A music video for the song, which was teased on Osbourne's official

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, was released on 19 December 2019. The song has been described as a "massive", "booming", "searing" and "epic"

by ''Music Mayhem'', '' Billboard'', '' Revolver'' and ''Ghost Cult'' magazines, respectively.

Background

Osbourne recorded "Under the Graveyard" after working with rapper

Post Malone Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his variegated vocals, Malone has gained acclaim for blending genres and subgenres of hip ...

, Travis Scott, and guitarist/producer Andrew Watt on the single "

Take What You Want "Take What You Want" is a song by American rapper and singer Post Malone, featuring vocals from English singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne and fellow American rapper and singer Travis Scott. The song was written by the artists, Billy Walsh, and pr ...

". The song was written by Osbourne and Watt with songwriter

Ali Tamposi Alexandra Tamposi (born November 17, 1989) is an American songwriter from West Palm Beach, Florida. She is best known for co-writing Kelly Clarkson's song "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)," 5 Seconds of Summer's song " Youngblood", DJ Snake's ...

and drummer

, who also performs on the track. Speaking about the recording, the vocalist commented that "Duff and Chad came in and we would go in and jam during the day and I would go work out the songs in the evenings. I previously had said to Sharon sbourne, Ozzy's wife and managerI should be doing an album, but in the back of my mind I was going, 'I haven't got the fucking strength.' But Andrew pulled it out of me. I really hope people listen to it and enjoy it, because I put my heart and soul into this album."

was 70 years old when the song was made. He had recently faced severe life threatening illness in 2019 with a stay in intensive care for severe respiratory disease. He also was seriously injured in a fall - a leading cause of death in people of his demographic. He also has a diagnosis of

Parkinson’s disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a chronic condition, long-term neurodegeneration, degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disea ...

- an incurable neurodegenerative disease.

Reception

Writing for the website '' Loudwire'', Joe DiVita described "Under the Graveyard" as "a non-traditional song for Ozzy", claiming that "the newfound influence presents itself in the genre-hopping arrangement". DiVita went on to add that "Fuzz-drenched lead guitars, romping bass lines and

alt-rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

undertones make this one hard to define. The frontman's performance is strong and reflective, admitting past mistakes while exposing vulnerability and inner conflict."

Personnel

– vocals * Andrew Watt – guitar, bass, keyboards, production *

– drums * Charlie Puth – keyboards * Happy Perez – keyboards

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

"Under the Graveyard" official video
at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

"Under the Graveyard" audio
at

{{Ozzy Osbourne Ozzy Osbourne songs 2019 songs 2019 singles Epic Records singles Songs written by Ozzy Osbourne Songs written by Andrew Watt (record producer) Songs written by Duff McKagan Songs written by Ali Tamposi Songs written by Chad Smith Heavy metal ballads Music videos directed by Jonas Åkerlund