Jack Osborne: Behind the scenes on Ozzy & Jack's American Road Trip
Brand new to free TV, join the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne, and son Jack as they take on America in true rock and royal style in Ozzy & Jack's American Road Trip.
Having been on tour as the lead singer of Black Sabbath for most of his children’s lives there wasn’t much time for family trips. But now Ozzy is finding a better work-life balance and is taking a road trip across America with his son Jack.
Blaze spoke to Jack Osborne in lockdown - who like many of us is balancing homeschooling and boredom - to give us a behind the scenes look at the series. And its not just Jack that's itching to leave the house. 'Ozzy is raring to get back out there,' admits Jack. 'He's like, "Man, what I would give to go back out and start the show up again."'
Asked which locations from the show, he would revisit if he could break lockdown for the day, Jack opts for Japan. But he'd bring his kids along this time, not the old man. When he visited Japan in episode six, Jack got a traditional Tebori tattoo from a legendary master. 'The worst part about that tattoo experience,' explains Jack 'is that because there's no buzz of a tattoo gun. It's quiet and you can hit your skin puncturing.' Ouch.
Jack grew up in front of the cameras in reality TV show The Osbornes but for American Roadtrip, he stepped behind them as one of the show's producers. Jack admits 'trying to corral his dad, host and produce could get really stressful'. But it was a lot of fun thinking of surprises for Ozzy on the show. Though he credits showrunner Greg Johnson for his creative genius in this respect, especially when it came to 'pushing the musical element of the series.'
Speaking of music, Ozzy and Jack visit the home of rock'n' roll, in Memphis, Tennessee in episode ten. Jack was blown away by the city, 'it's one of those places where it's got so much history,' he explains. In Memphis, Ozzy and Jack visit the spot where Blues guitarist, Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the devil. Rather a fitting excursion for the Prince of Darkness.
It's not the only out of this world moment in the show. In episode ten, Unidentified Flying Ozzy, father and son visit Roswell, New Mexico, the spot of the famous alleged UFO incident. Unbelievably, it is Jack who is a believer while Ozzy is the sceptic. Jack’s even visited UFO hotspot, Skinwalker Ranch, on a personal odyssey, ('a really eerie place and literally everyone has had an experience.') Unfortunately, Jack didn’t spot any UFOs in American Roadtrip but he did take a Mars Rover for a spin. It didn’t go quite so smoothly, Jack explains. ‘I got this thing stuck on a rock. This thing's costs about $30 million, and I thought I’m going to get in so much trouble. I was freaking out but they all got excited trying to figure out how to get it unstuck.’
The NASA scientists in Roswell weren’t the only government employees they came across in the show. During their visit to Mount Rushmore, they were being trailed the entire time by the Department of the Interior. 'They were essentially transcribing everything we were saying onto iPads,' recalls Jack. 'This is some big brother like bureaucratic weirdness right now.'
We can't blame the Department of the Interior for being fascinated by Ozzy and Jack but maybe next time they should just watch the show.