Ozzy Osbourne wanted to be Slipknot's 10th member.

The band's frontman Corey Taylor has recalled his first meeting with the 74-year-old Black Sabbath star after he got them on the bill for his Ozzfest music festival back in 1999 - revealing they got offered the gig because Ozzy's son Jack was a huge fan - and Ozzy offered to round out the masked band's line-up by becoming the 10th member.

Speaking to Classic Rock magazine, Corey explained: "The reason Slipknot got onto Ozzfest is because we were [Ozzy’s son] Jack’s favourite band. Sharon gave us a little more leeway because of that. We did some crazy s***, but she’d be, ‘It’s fine, it’s Slipknot'."

He added: "I was sitting at a table with Jack and Kelly and Sharon. All of sudden, Ozzy comes bounding up: ‘Sharon, can you help me with my earrings?’ And Sharon goes, ‘Ozzy, this is one of the members of Slipknot, it’s Corey, he’s the singer.’

"He looks at me and goes, “You’re the guys with nine members? I wanna be number 10!” I was like, ‘Dude, you’re Ozzy, anything you want!’ It was like meeting Superman."

It comes after Ozzy Osbourne was forced to cancel a performance at the Power Trip festival Indio, California in October due to his ongoing health issues. He made the announcement in July and his family have since admitted they can't discuss the topic at home because he finds it too upsetting.

His daughter Kelly Osbourne told Rolling Stone magazine: “We can’t talk about it in the house because it is just so heartbreaking to see that all he wants is just one more show." His wife Sharon added: “And Ozzy wants to be on that show with all his friends. “It’s heartbreaking for him to see everybody going on, and he’s just left behind.” The pair admitted Ozzy - who has Parkinson's disease - is capable of singing his hits for fans, but he doesn't want to leave them feeling short-changed by having to do the gig without moving around.