Two weeks ago I watched a documentary about Ozzy Osbourne on TV.
What a dag.
It was very amusing.
And also highly interesting, if you want to know how to become an in-demand frontman despite having just average singing skills.
Here’s the true story:
Back in the day when the madman was still a greenhorn musician, he got himself a job at a bloody slaughterhouse. And that’s not metaphorically spoken. He REALLY was working in a slaughterhouse for a while.
Anyway, as blood-dripping as his personality always might have been, he decided that’s not how he wanted to spend the rest of his life.
Simply because, there were…
No groupies…
No free lines…
And he had to show up 6 am every morning.
Not quite what Ozzy had in mind for his lifestyle.
A mucho better idea, so Ozzy thought, was to become a singer in a rock’n roll band.
But how to go ’bout it, with no connections…no reputation…and, if at all, only average singing skills?
Well, some people may not believe it, but Mr. Osbourne was a clever mate. He knew he wasn’t the best vocalist around the block, so he had to spice things up if he wanted to sore above all the other singers.
Now, guess what he did to draw some red eyeballs on him?
Knowing that many of the up-and-coming music groups were lacking the equipment for the frontman…he scraped together his last slaughterhouse pennies…and bought himself a PA.
Off he went to the next music shop and hang up this ad: “Singer WITH OWN PA is looking for a band”
What a diabolic turn from the Prince of Darkness.
‘Cause now he stood out from the rest of the singing mob like a sore thumb.
As the other members of Black Sabbath later confessed, that was the primarily reason why Toni, Bill, and Geezer invited Ozzy to join their group.
The rest, Darling, went down in history…
And here’s the lesson:
If you can bring something unique to the table, you don’t have to be the best singer under the sun. And you don’t need a mind-blowing Diva range or an acrobatic colloratura.
Sure, it doesn’t hurt either.
But if you’ve got some solid chops (which by all means also Ozzy had), you can make yourself a prominent singer by simply adding something that none of the other bards have under their belt.
What this could be?
I’m not spoon-feeding you, so you have to come up with your own “special thang”.
But to get you started…just look at other singers and observe what they do, have, or lack. Then take a deep look at yourself…and ask yourself what you could bring to the table that makes you unique. Specifically, something that makes the crowd go coo coo.
Get your brain to work and I’m sure you’ll find something.