Hellraising rock star Ozzy Osbourne sought solace in a Manhattan church after witnessing the Sept. 11 attacks, while Alanis Morissette clung to her boyfriend all day in Los Angeles, according to the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine.
Grim rocker Lou Reed watched the World Trade Center towers burn from the roof of his Greenwich Village apartment, and girlfriend Laurie Anderson was one of the few artists to perform that night.
The magazine compiled a round-up of rock-star reactions to the tragedies, and found that many were defiantly trying to get back to business as usual.
“During times of war, my parents tried to carry on as normally as much as you can, with adjustments,” said Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, who is preparing to release a solo album in November. “You can’t let terrorists completely change your lifestyle. They would love that. That’s a victory.”
Reed is in the middle of recording an album, and nobody would stop him from getting it done or going out on tour.
“Making music, creating beautiful things. We have to be in love with the good and the beautiful,” Reed said. “If we are not, then you’re in a nihilistic state.”
Others interrupted their daily lives to help out at Ground Zero, the magazine reported. Beastie Boy Adam Yauch delivered food and socks to volunteers at the scene.
Osbourne and his wife, Sharon, tearfully watched the carnage unfold from the roof of their midtown hotel, and then went to a church across the road to collect their thoughts.
Morissette, who was planning to fly on Sept. 11 to testify about artists rights in Washington D.C., instead spent the day clinging to her boyfriend – “completely blown away and in shock, speechless.”
She told the magazine she might release a song that could offer “some minuscule, miniscule value in terms of comfort.”
While most artists canceled shows set for Sept. 11, Laurie Anderson went through with a sold-out performance in Chicago.
“They canceled all the baseball games, but I felt that was a different thing,” she reasoned. “Ballgames are about fun and celebration, as music is. But music is also about why we’re here.”