Ozzy Osbourne, Corey Taylor, Al Jourgensen and more have been enlisted to appear on Billy Morrison’s new album.
Yesterday (January 9), Morrison – known for being the rhythm guitarist in Billy Idol’s band – took to Instagram to provide updates on his career. After announcing that he was signing with The Label Group and Virgin Music, he detailed the release of his third solo album, ‘The Morrison Project’, which arrives on April 19.
“The album features a ton of guest appearances by my friends and the first single, ‘DROWNING’ will be released February 23rd,” wrote Morrison.
The album will reportedly consist of 12 tracks and feature guest appearances from various rock and rap icons, including Ozzy Osbourne, Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor, Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen, Steve Vai, DMC of Run-DMC, Billy Idol bandmate Steve Stevens, Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes, Black Sabbath touring drummer Tommy Clufetos, and more.
Speaking to Blabbermouth upon the album’s announcement, Morrison highlighted his process working with guest vocalists, in which he allowed them to “do whatever they felt”. “One of the greatest things about writing this album was being able to let my guest singers do their own thing,” he said. “I would send them the track with no guidelines and just had them do whatever they felt. I think that gave those songs an energy and a life force that would not be there if I had tried to get involved in their lyrics or their melodies. And I loved everything they all did!”
He also noted that he began work on the album after making music with A Perfect Circle’s Jeordie White and Billy Idol drummer Erik Eldenius during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, stating: “Making music with Erik and Jeordie during Covid, and mixing different musical styles started my journey towards this collection of songs that ended up featuring a lot of my friends.”
“The Morrison Project” serves as the follow-up to his 2015 sophomore album, ‘God Shaped Hole’, which also featured Ozzy Osbourne on its closing track, ‘Gods of Rock N Roll’. He released his first solo album, ‘Stimulator’, in 2008.
Aside from his solo work, Morrison has also been keeping busy with Billy Idol in the past year. In April, Billy Idol became the first artist to perform a concert at the Hoover Dam in Colorado. The intimate concert, which was attended by 250 people, featured guest appearances from Alison Mosshart of The Kills and The Dead Weather, Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols and Tony Kanal of No Doubt.
The performance was taped and eventually released as a concert film, which played in theatres for one night in November. Billy Idol and his band also undertook a lengthy tour of the United States, which concluded in October with a five-night residency at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.