Dave Grohl revealed that he once wrote music for Ozzy Osbourne, but after it was initially passed upon, he repurposed it for his own use.

While speaking with Kerrang! Radio, the Foo Fighters frontman shared that he decided to present something to Ozzy and the Osbourne family during a time when Sharon Osbourne had reached out to other musicians to write songs for the legendary vocalist. Although Grohl didn’t specify when this occurred, the music’s eventual destination suggests it likely happened in the early 2000s.

What Did Dave Grohl Say About the Music He Wrote for Ozzy Osbourne?

“I wrote this instrumental that was like super … it was almost like a Melvins song. It was like super duper heavy,” recalled Grohl. “And I thought this could be so cool if Ozzy sang over it.”

However, as Grohl explains, “They never picked it. They never used it. But I ended up using it for this record that I made. It was called Probot.

What Was Probot?

Released in February 2004, the Probot album was Grohl’s musical exploration of his heavier influences. It was released independently of Foo Fighters and was seen as a reaction to the more melodic and mellow side of the band’s 1999 album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose.

With Grohl coming off tour eager to create something heavier, he began writing heavy riffs and then added drum and bass arrangements as well. “I didn’t even call them songs because they were bare instrumentals with no intention of putting vocals on them and no direction as an actual song,” Grohl told Entertainment Weekly at the time.

READ MORE: Dave Grohl Records Full Metal Album for ‘Studio 666’ Band Dream Widow

After completing his creative burst of instrumental pieces, he reached out to some of the metal singers he idolized growing up, allowing them to add their vocals to the musical base he had created. The resulting album featured guests such as Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead, Max Cavalera of Sepultura, Snake of Voivod, Tom G. Warrior of Celtic Frost, King Diamond, Cronos of Venom, and Eric Wagner of Trouble, among others.

Where Did Dave Grohl’s Ozzy Riff End Up?

The sludgy, heavy instrumental eventually became a song called “Tortured Soul” that appeared on the Probot album.

“The singer of a band called Trouble [Eric Wagner], a legendary metal band called Trouble, he sang on that track and it almost kind of has an Ozzy feel to it,” shared Grohl.

The Foo Fighters leader concludes, “It never became an Ozzy song, but it has a killer riff, man.”

Although the song was not selected as one of the album’s singles, Grohl and his Probot band performed it live on MTV2’s Headbangers Ball in 2004. Hear the studio version below.

Probot, “My Tortured Soul”

See how we ranked Ozzy Osbourne’s solo albums in the gallery below.