Post Malone talks Shania Twain crush, country music aspirations, and working with Ozzy
In his new commercial for Doritos, Post Malone rocks a lime-green rhinestone-cowboy getup as his alter ego, Post Limón. It’s a look he wears well, and it turns out the genre-blurring superstar is a big country music fan.
That explains why, at the recent American Music Awards, he could be spotted in viral audience footage adorably and totally unironically singing along to Shania Twain’s greatest-hits finale number, looking like he was living his best life — especially during "Man! I Feel Like a Woman.”
Post Malone singing when Shania Twain shows up is beautiful #AMAs
pic.twitter.com/nFfO5zxC8q— Tom (@Tom_Haisem98) November 25, 2019
“That's an absolute banger of a song. Me and my mom would always sing that in the car going to school,” says Post, who confesses that he’s “most certainly” had a crush on Twain since he was 6 years old. “I've been a Shania Twain fan for a long time.”
Twain actually paid homage to Post that AMAs evening, kicking off her buzzy performance with an acoustic medley that included his hit "Rockstar" (along with twenty one pilots' "Stressed Out," Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off," and Drake's "God's Plan"). “I thought was really, really, really awesome. I was so honored that she just threw it into the compilation a little bit,” gushes Post. “One of my managers told me, ‘Hey, Shania wants to cover one of your songs tonight,’ and I was so, so ecstatic and excited.”
And Post just might return the favor. When asked if he’d ever consider doing his own remake of “Man! I Feel Like a Woman,” he tells Yahoo Entertainment, “I would love to! I don't see why not. I think it sounds like a good time. I'd pick up the band and do a nice big cover with it. I want a whole horn section and everything, like a 30-piece band, and we'll just rock out.”
Twain has also revealed that she already has a song in mind for a collaboration with Malone, so watch this space.
Post, who’s collaborated with everyone from Justin Bieber to Kanye West to Ozzy Osbourne but has “always loved old-school Nudie suits and Hank Sr.-type country music,” isn’t opposed to doing a full country album on his own one day. “I don't see why I wouldn't mess around and mash something together, and just have fun with it,” he says. “I make a bunch of different songs, some of which that will never come out, just for fun. I’ve made some country songs, some rock songs… you never know whenever I might get some inspiration and just say, ‘Hey, let's put this out now.’”
As for Ozzy, it’s that above-mentioned collaboration, on “Take What You Want,” that returned the 71-year-old metal legend to the Billboard charts. (It peaked on the Hot 100 at No. 8, making it Osbourne's first top 10 single since his 1988 duet with Lita Ford, "Close My Eyes Forever.”) The experience was so enjoyable for Osbourne, it became the catalyst for the rocker’s first album in a decade, Ordinary Man, which will feature another Ozzy/Post duet.
“It was really an honor to work with Ozzy,” says Post, who was unaware at the time that Osbourne had Parkinson’s disease. (Osbourne announced his diagnosis last week.) “He had difficulty standing, so every time we performed, like on [the American Music Awards] and at my show at the Forum, we got him a cool throne. But he's so strong, you couldn't tell. He has such a strong will, and he's such a nice, funny guy, and whenever you shake his hand, he's very deliberate, very strong. So I couldn't tell; he looked good to me. And I'm excited for him to put out this [Ordinary Man] record, because I know he's really excited and really passionate about it. He's a strong guy, and it's really cool to work with him and be a part of everything.”
As for all those memeworthy, viral Twitter posts from young, uneducated fans who seemed to think Ozzy was some unknown rocker getting his first big break from Post Malone, Post chuckles and has a feeling they were just trolling. “If it was a joke, it's hilarious. If it wasn't a joke, it's still hilarious! I don't know, people are funny on the internet, so I don't know if they were joking or not. But mark my words: You'll be hearing more from this Ozzy Osbourne kid!”
Along with Lil Nas X (another artist with a penchant for bedazzled rodeo suits), Post Malone defies categorization. So, when asked about future dream collaborators (besides Shania, of course), he rattles off a wishlist of Timbaland, Danger Mouse, CeeLo Green, and even Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes. “There's so many talented artists out there that I've dreamt about working with. I suppose right time, right place,” he says. “That's what I like about music now — not just country, but everything. Rock is changing. Country is changing. Everything's so cool and everything's so mishmashed together. I love how everything sounds right now.”
Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
Post Malone gets new face tattoo hours before Times Square performance on New Year's Eve
Shania Twain blasts 'very ageist' country music stations: 'I don't hear Reba on the radio anymore'
Follow Lyndsey on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon and Spotify.
Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Lifestyle’s newsletter.
