Sharon Osbourne has taken aim at the K-pop industry, calling it “soul-destroying” and “a complete factory”.
Osbourne was the latest guest on The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan, the new podcast by the Smashing Pumpkins frontman.
In the episode released yesterday (February 19), Corgan recalled with Osbourne a record label meeting he once attended – and how he lost his temper when he was suggested to change the band’s direction in order to appeal to audiences.
“They’re trying to saw the edges off of the true weirdoes and the true one-of-a-kinders,” Corgan remarked, to which Osbourne replied: “Well, look at it now with all the Korean bands that come out, and all this K-pop.”
Corgan asked Osbourne if she knows how K-pop is made, telling her an anecdote about a friend he knows who once travelled to Korea to “hang out” with people in the K-pop industry.
“So they have these rooms, and literally in one room, they’ll just write choruses,” he said. “They don’t try to write a song, they just write choruses. And in another room, they have kids who are really good at writing bridges. And in another room, they have kids who are really good at writing verses.” Watch the episode below (skip to 1:31:11 for the quoted segment).
Once they’re done, he added, they would “pile the stuff” and pick and choose what would go together. “It’s just a factory,” he remarked.
Osbourne agreed, adding: “It’s a complete factory, and they’ll chop these kids up to make them look like more Western. And, as soon as they get old, [they’re] out! A younger one comes in, and it’s just soul-destroying. Totally soul-destroying.”
Earlier in the episode, Osbourne revealed that Ozzy was “offered to go and read for Pirates Of The Caribbean“.
“I’ve never said this to anyone, and I said no,” she said. “Now wouldn’t he have been perfect?” Corgan replied: “He would have been perfect! Maybe it’s not too late, but God bless.”
The legendary frontman recently launched The Magnificent Others with guests such as KISS‘ Gene Simmons and former Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello for an in-depth and candid conversation about the triumphs, challenges, and pivotal moments that shaped their journeys and defined their paths.
Produced by Bill Maher’s Club Random Studios, episodes are released every Wednesday. Corgan had already dabbled in podcasting but revealed that he previously lost interest when most companies wanted him to only share his past stories.
Elsewhere, Sharon recently spoke to NME about Black Sabbath’s final gig – which will take place on July 5 in Birmingham – and opened up about the possibility of a biopic about the iconic metal band.
Speaking about who would portray the band in a potential biopic, Sharon said: “God only knows! If it were to happen, I don’t know well-known actors would be good to do it. With these characters, you’d need to get somebody new. You can get these phenomenal actors: if you got Johnny Depp playing Ozzy, all you’d see in the movie is Johnny Depp. It has to be somebody faceless at that time.”