Ozzy Osbourne

Background

Osbourne was born on December 3, 1948, in Aston, Birmingham, England. He was the son of Lilian Osbourne, a factory worker, and John Thomas “Jack” Osbourne, a toolmaker.

Education

He studied at Birchfield Road Secondary Modern School in Perry Barr. Although he struggled academically, he showed early interest in music and performance, participating in school plays.

Career

Early career and Black Sabbath (1967–1979)

In 1967, Osbourne joined bassist Geezer Butler in the band Rare Breed, which soon disbanded. They later formed a new group with Tony Iommi and Bill Ward, initially called Earth, before renaming it Black Sabbath in 1969.

As the lead vocalist of Black Sabbath, Osbourne rose to international prominence. The band’s debut album Black Sabbath (1970) achieved commercial success, followed by Paranoid (1971), which included influential tracks such as “War Pigs” and “Iron Man.” Subsequent albums, including Master of Reality (1971), Vol. 4 (1972), and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973), established the band as a defining force in heavy metal.

Despite continued releases such as Sabotage (1975), Technical Ecstasy (1976), and Never Say Die! (1978), internal tensions and substance abuse issues led to Osbourne’s departure from the band in 1979.

Solo career (1980–1990s)

Osbourne launched a successful solo career with Blizzard of Ozz (1980), which included the hit single “Crazy Train.” His follow-up album Diary of a Madman (1981) further strengthened his commercial success.

Throughout the 1980s, he released several multi-platinum albums, including Bark at the Moon (1983), The Ultimate Sin (1986), and No Rest for the Wicked (1988). In 1991, he released No More Tears, one of his most successful records.

In 1992, he announced his retirement with the “No More Tears” tour, but later resumed performing following the success of his live album Live & Loud (1993), which earned him a Grammy Award.

Later career and media presence (1995–2010s)

Osbourne continued recording and touring, releasing Ozzmosis (1995) and later founding the touring festival Ozzfest in 1996, which became a major platform for heavy metal bands.

In 2001, he released Down to Earth, followed by the MTV reality show The Osbournes (2002–2005), which focused on his family life and significantly expanded his public profile.

He reunited with Black Sabbath in 2005 for touring, and the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. In 2013, they released the album 13, their first studio album together in decades.

The band’s farewell tour, “The End,” concluded in February 2017 in Birmingham.

Osbourne continued to record and perform in his later years, maintaining his presence in music and media until his death.

Achievements

• 

  Osbourne sold over 100 million records worldwide, both as a solo artist and as a member of Black Sabbath. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Black Sabbath and into the UK Music Hall of Fame as both a solo artist and band member.
  
  He was widely regarded as one of the founding figures of heavy metal and was often referred to as the “Godfather of Heavy Metal.”

Works

More photos

• book

  • I Am Ozzy

• music

  • Black Sabbath 1970
  • Paranoid 1970
  • Master of Reality 1971
  • Vol. 4 1972
  • Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 1973
  • Sabotage 1975
  • Technical Ecstasy 1976
  • Never Say Die! 1978
  • Blizzard of Ozz 1980
  • Diary Of A Madman 1981
  • Bark At the Moon 1983
  • The Ultimate Sin 1986
  • No Rest for the Wicked 1988
  • No More Tears 1991
  • Ozzmosis 1995
  • Down To Earth Remastered 2001
  • Under Cover 2005
  • Black Rain 2007
  • Scream 2010
  • 13 2013

Religion

Osbourne was a Christian and a member of the Church of England. He was known to say a prayer before performances.

Politics

Osbourne was largely uninvolved in formal politics, although major British political parties reportedly sought endorsements from him and his family. He and his wife, Sharon Osbourne, were critical of the involvement of the United States and the United Kingdom in the Iraq War and of the political leaders associated with it, including George W. Bush and Tony Blair. During performances, he occasionally incorporated political imagery, including references to the song “War Pigs.”

Views

Quotations: "[Black] Sabbath were a hippy band. We were into peace."

"[It] could be worse...I could be Sting."

"Sometimes I think my whole career and life has only been about a bloody Bat!"

"I am a raging alcoholic, but I don't want my kids to do the same."

"I love you all; I love you more than life itself, but you're all fucking mad!"

"I keep hearing this [expletive] thing that guns don't kill people, but people kill people."

"Who the fuck is Justin Bieber?"

"We are not going to continue until we hear the fucking roof rattle."

"I like the word fuck. Fucking deal with it and move on to the first fucking question you have."

"I can honestly say, all the bad things that ever happened to me were directly, directly attributed to drugs and alcohol. I mean, I would never piss on a piece of stone at the fucking Alamo at nine o'clock in the morning dressed in a woman's evening dress sober. I mean I know I'm a fucking crazy-ass but still."

"We're the Osbournes, and I love it."

"I hate these fucking stretch bastards junk pimp mobiles!"

"You don't need to hire a dog therapist, you just need to wake up at 7 am and open the fucking door!"

"I've done a lot worse than jump off piers, son. Like throw a television out the window."

"Let me explain something to you - you have not been standing in front of thirty thousand decibals for thirty-five years - write me a note!"

"I'm about caring, I'm about people, and I'm about entertaining people. I'm a family man. A husband. A father. I've been a lot of other things over the years, which we don't really want to talk about. I'm always working on trying to better myself, you know? I think that that is an ongoing thing with me. I think I'll do that for the rest of my life. I'm always thinking of what I can do today to better my life."

"I kept hearing that metal is dead and Ozzy's dead and people that like Ozzy are dead. I have never had an empty seat. I've always sold out, so who's saying it's all over?"

"There is something fucking unbelievable about seeing all of the fans go crazy and chanting 'Ozzy!' I would pay to see them.."

"Being sober on a bus is, like, totally different than being drunk on a bus."

Personality

Osbourne struggled with alcohol and drug abuse throughout much of his adult life. He experienced tremors for several years, which he initially attributed to substance use. In May 2005, he was diagnosed with Parkin syndrome, a hereditary condition with symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease.

Physical Characteristics: Osbourne had more than 15 tattoos, including the letters “O-Z-Z-Y” across the knuckles of his left hand. This was his first tattoo, which he created himself as a teenager using a sewing needle and pencil lead.

Interests

• Ozzy is known for his painting hobby. He is crazy about hunting and fishing.

• Sport & Clubs

  soccer

• Music & Bands

  The Beatles, Johnny Cash,
  
  AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, Judas Priest, Metallica

Connections

Osbourne met his first wife, Thelma (née Riley), in 1971 at the Rum Runner nightclub in Birmingham, where she worked. They married the same year and had two children, Jessica and Louis; he also adopted her son Elliot. He later described the marriage as unsuccessful, noting that his substance abuse and frequent absences during tours with Black Sabbath negatively affected his family life.

On July 4, 1982, Osbourne married Sharon Arden. They had three children: Aimee (born September 2, 1983), Kelly (born October 27, 1984), and Jack (born November 8, 1985). He later remarked that he chose the date deliberately so he would not forget their anniversary.

Osbourne and his wife were listed among the wealthiest couples in the United Kingdom; in 2005, they were ranked 458th in the Sunday Times Rich List, with an estimated combined fortune of £100 million derived from recording, touring, and television projects.

Father:

John Thomas "Jack" Osbourne

Mother:

Lilian Osbourne

Wife:

Thelma Riley

Daughter:

Jessica Osbourne

Jessica is an actress and director, known for Horrorween (2011), Trekking for God (2012) and The Amateur (2013).

Son:

Louis Osbourne

Son:

Elliot Osbourne

Wife:

Sharon Osbourne

Sharon Rachel Osbourne is an English television host, media personality, television talent competition judge, author, music manager, modern impresario, businesswoman, and promoter. She first came into public prominence after appearing in The Osbournes, a reality television show that followed her family's daily life.

Daughter:

Aimee Osbourne

Aimee Rachel Osbourne (born 2 September 1983) is an English-American actress and musician. While her siblings Jack and Kelly achieved pop culture fame for appearing in the family's MTV reality series The Osbournes, the more private Aimee declined to appear on the show, feeling that doing so would typecast her and affect her musical career.

Daughter:

Kelly Osbourne

Kelly Osbourne is a British singer-songwriter, actress, television presenter and fashion designer. The daughter of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, she is known for her appearances on The Osbournes with her family, for which they won a 2002 Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program, as well as on E!'s Fashion Police, where she was a presenter from 2010 to 2015.

Son:

Jack Osbourne

Jack Joseph Osbourne (born 8 November 1985) is an English media personality with dual American and British citizenship. As the son of heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne, he starred on MTV's reality series The Osbournes (2002–05), along with his father, mother Sharon, and sister Kelly. Osbourne has since pursued a career as a fitness and travel reporter, presenting shows such as Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline Junkie (2005–09) and BBC's Saving Planet Earth (2007).

colleague:

Tony Iommi

Anthony Frank Iommi is an English guitarist, songwriter and producer. He is lead guitarist and one of the four founding members of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He has been the band's primary composer and sole continual member for nearly five decades.

References

• The Wit and Wisdom of Ozzy Osbourne
• Black Sabbath and Philosophy: Mastering Reality
• Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe
• Iron Man: My Journey through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath